Unknown Broadcast | Deadline for Death: A Dead Gangster’s Promise and the Daylight-Saving Trap

Transcript prepared from a new automatic transcription of this episode’s released Spreaker recording. Separate host introductions, closing remarks, and identified advertisements are omitted. Reviewed for the previously flagged gaps and repetition; not checked word for word by a human against the audio. Some transcription errors may remain. The original radio host’s introductions, act transitions, and closing credits are retained.

Come in. Welcome. I'm E.G. Marshall. The one place where all men meet sooner or later is the grave. It's the place where all roads end. That small model of the barren earth which serves as paste and cover to our bones. What happens then when two old friends meet beyond the grave When one of them has been living under the threat of death by the other A threat from the grave A threat made in a crowded courtroom more than 20 years ago Our mystery drama, Deadline for Death, was written especially for the Mystery Theater by Arnold Moss and stars Michael Tolan and Joseph Julian.

Was the threat Johnny promised made some minutes ago an empty warning? Can a dead man moldering under the damp earth for 20 years doom the life of another man? Can a corpse, long dead, wreak vengeance on another human being from the immeasurable distance of another world? We're about to find out as Johnny Promise talks to his old friend, Sammy Rogers. Sam? Sam Rogers?

Answer me, Sam. It's so dark here, we can't see one another, but we can hear. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore. Sam? Why can't you leave me alone? Nobody's bothering you, Sam. Nobody. Just someone to talk to us all. Old friends, old times sake. Nothing wrong in that, is there? Is there? Nice to talk over old times. Friendly. Makes me feel good.

Besides, what else is there to do in this place? I don't want to talk, Johnny. Not again. Oh, don't be unfriendly, Sam. Not here. Get your kick some other way. Leave me alone. Stop torturing me. It's been finished all over for a long time. Oh, tell me again how it was. Just one more time. Like what went wrong on our bank job?

How he had it worked out so good? How some way we goofed. How the cops broke in on us and we began to run. How the big one took a shot at me and I shot back and let that cop have it right through the head. How they all started to target in on me. How I called you for help. And how you ran away.

And ran and ran and ran. You did manage to save your own little neck, didn't you? Tell it to me again, Sammy. You've heard it a thousand times. I know, Sam, I know. And more than anything, I love the way you tell about the courtroom That hot summer day, 19... 20 years ago, back in the 50s I'll never forget that one Especially your part You'll never forget it either Because as long as we're here together I won't let you forget, Sammy I won't let you Johnny Promo Also known as Johnny Promise A jury of your peers is found you guilty of the murder of Officer Cochran in the first degree.

Are there any last words you would like to say before I pronounce sentence? Yes, Your Honor. But it's not for the court. It's for Sam Rogers sitting over there, star witness for the prosecution. You saved your own skin, Sammy, by squealing about me to the DA. If not for you, I'd have got away with it. But you'll pay for it, Sammy boy, with your life.

My name ain't Johnny Promise for nothing, kid. So keep an eye on the calendar. Count the days one by one. Because after I get mine, I'll see to it that you get no more than a month to live. Order! Maybe less than a month, but not one minute more. Don't look so scared, Sammy. If you live past the month, you're safe. But I got a lot of friends and a lot of dough to toss around to those friends.

Today you buy loyalty like you buy land shops, Don't count on more than a month. And when you get yours, remember Johnny Promise lets you have it. Straight from the grave. Remember the date, Sam? The date the judge named for me to burn in the electric chair? I don't remember. Oh, that's not true. You remember? August the 28th. Five o'clock in the morning.

Caps for Johnny Promise. A man with a coat of honor. A man whose word was a thing of respect. And above everything else, your friend. Now, how could you forget that? You will never let me. And little Sammy with his big mouth made the whole thing happen, right? Cut it out, Johnny. I don't want to hear anymore. What do you get from tormenting me like this?

Laughs. and it passes the time. We got no place to go. We're going to be here for the rest of our... let's say for a long, long time. And I like to laugh. And that story of yours is good for a million of them. Let's have it, Sammy boy. What was it like for you after I got mine? Come on, tell it just like it happened.

Tell it. After the judge pronounced your sentence, I sat there in the courtroom like it was me he had sentenced. The cold sweat was pouring out of my body. I couldn't move. I could hardly breathe. All I could hear was your voice laughing and saying, a month to live. One month to live. I knew for sure that within the month after you burned, you'd see to it somehow that I got mine.

So I holed up in that scrubby hotel room, way up on the ninth floor. And for two whole weeks, I didn't see anyone. I wouldn't answer the phone. I wouldn't talk to anybody. I wouldn't open the door. Except for Linda. She was the only one I could trust. It's me, Sam. Come in quick. Here's your dinner, Sam. Thanks, Linda. Today's newspaper? September the 12th.

Fifteen days since Johnny... You've got to stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about it. By 5 a.m. of the 28th, I'll be a dead man. And it could come at any time. In a week, tomorrow, in an hour. But you've taken care, sweetie. Nobody can get at you up here. And once you get past the 28th, you're a free man. Johnny said so, didn't he?

Yeah, he did. And he never broke his promise, did he? Yeah, that's what I'm counting on. But just the same. Every morning I wake up after a bad night and I hear myself talking to myself. I say, today, today, will it be today? Is this my last day on earth? That's what's driving me crazy. Sam, you've got to find things to take your mind off of it.

It's only another couple of weeks. And then... And then? Well, go away someplace. Far away. Start a whole new life. Why don't you eat something? It'll make you feel better. I'm not hungry. Maybe a little coffee while it's still hot. I got the change from the 20 you gave me. Forget it. It's right here in my bag. What are those? The keys.

What keys? To this room. To this room? Of course. Where did you get them? You gave them to me, don't you remember? I never gave you any keys to this room. Who gave you those keys? I told you, Sam, you did. You lousy little liar. Where did you get those keys? I don't know what you're talking about. He even got to you.

Oh, Sam, how could you think that I... He got to that crummy desk clerk first, didn't he? And then to you. And you had the duplicate made. Who made the payoff? I said, who made the payoff? Sam, you're insane. Why would I ever do anything to hurt you? Because for 500, 1,000 bucks, you'd do anything. Now get out of here, you little trapped.

Oh, you're wrong, Sam. You're wrong. I love you. Get out. Oh, wait, Sam. I don't need you or anybody. Get out before I get in. It was the house phone. Not my private line with the unlisted number. Only two people ever knew that number. You, Johnny, and Linda. But this was from the lobby downstairs. I stood there listening to it ring. I didn't dare answer it.

The sound began to bore a little hole into my brain. And finally... Yeah? Who is it? It's me, Sam. Linda. You? How could it be you? You just went out of the door. Where are you? In the lobby downstairs. I'm so glad you answered. How did you get down there so fast? Please, Sam. Listen to me. I know how you felt about those keys.

But you've got to trust me. Yeah, yeah, sure. How did you get to that phone so... You've got to get hold of yourself. Why don't you have the locks changed on your door? Why? For what reason? Call in a locksmith. Somebody who never heard of you, of me, of Johnny, anybody we know. Let him change the locks and give the keys only to you.

One of a kind for each lock, no duplicates. Do that, Sam. Please. You know I'd never do anything to hurt you. Sure, sweetie. That's a good idea. I don't know what got into me, what made me think that you... I'm sorry, Linda, for everything. You call a locksmith, yes? First thing in the morning. I'll be seeing you, Sam. Huh? Oh, yeah, Linda.

Right. That was real tricky of you, Johnny. Leading me to suspect that Linda might be the one you'd pick to get me. After I put the phone down, an idea came to me. Hit me like a thunderbolt. Made the best sense of anything in the past couple of weeks. What was the point of living holed up like a rat? like a sitting duck in that lousy hotel room, waiting, just waiting for you, Johnny, to make me a target for whoever you paid off to let me have it.

For once you thought Johnny promised he's going to be outsmarted, right? For once you thought Johnny Big Mouth was going to meet his match. How could you have been so dumb? Why hadn't I thought of it before? All I had to do, Johnny, was to find out who it was you picked to put the finger on me. Once I knew who it was, I could take care of him before he ever got the chance to get to me.

Pretty good thinking, Johnny, right? And I knew the first and best place to start looking. The bowling alley was one of the crowd's favorite hangouts. If your man was any place, Johnny, this was it. I noticed a couple of familiar faces. Hi, Benny, what's new? How's the wife? Hey, Tommy, putting on a little weight, huh? Better take it easy with a beer.

What do you say, Vinnie? How's the score? Still over 250? Every one of them. They just walked away, didn't they? Wherever you went, the guys moved away, turned their backs on you without a word. Like you were some kind of bad news, some kind of disease. Went to the bar to order a drink. A beer, Joey. You'd known Joey the bartender for years.

He gave you your drink without so much as a word. I swallowed my beer, and as I did, I spotted little red Mike down at the other end of the bar. I never liked him from the first time I met him. And everybody knew he never liked you. Something about him, his beady little eyes looked at you like a rat. I walked over to him without saying anything.

He started to move away from me. I grabbed him by the back of the neck. Don't you walk away from me, you little louse. I know what you're up to. Hey, let go of me. What do you think you're doing? It's you, ain't it? You're the one. You're the one he picked to do his job. What are you talking about? Get your hands off of me.

I don't know what you're saying. You sniveling two-faced rat. You thought I was afraid of you. Better let you have it. This minute before you get me, Johnny promises a little stoolie. Keep your hands where they are, Mike. Hey, you're crazy, Sam. Johnny's dead. Put that gun down. Please. I don't know what you're thinking, but you're making a big mistake. Would a smart cookie like Johnny ever pick somebody like me to do what you're thinking?

Put your gun down and frisk me. Come on. If you don't believe me, frisk me, Sammy. Okay. All right, so I made a mistake. But from now on, stay out of my way, understand? Whatever you say. But you really ought to take it easy. Because you know as well as I do, when your time comes, you'll go. Just like everybody else. Johnny, that's your voice coming out of Red Mike's mouth.

Meantime, we've got to take care, don't we, Sammy? What kind of crazy figure you're pulling, Johnny? And you can count on me for the best care a fellow ever had. Like they say in the cemetery, Sammy. Perpetual care. I promise. There's a delicate little mechanism inside the heads of all of us. When you're threatened by an overpowering fear, for example, Whatever or whoever is the cause of that fear turns the little machine on.

And wherever you go, you see that person. Hear his voice, feel his touch. Like what's happening to Sammy, right? Just how far and to what ends will the little machine drive Sam Rogers? We'll find out shortly when we return with Act Two. One of the great mysteries is time. It often happens that time seems never to move forward when the minutes are suspended in some terrifying space and refuse to move.

And then there is that silent, never-resting thing time that rolls on, rushes along, swift as an ocean tide, on which we and the whole universe ride. For Sam Rogers, time was beginning to take on a new meaning. The end of the month was getting closer and closer. The days were racing by. Every night I shut my eyes to try to get just a couple of hours sleep.

I kept myself awake, thinking. What were you thinking, Sammy. Tell me. But I had to find the guy you picked. The guy that was going to let me have it. I kept telling myself, get to him before he gets to you, and there'll be nothing to worry about. Sooner or later, I had to find him. Once you made your mind up about that, you began to feel a whole lot better.

Yeah, I began to live almost a normal life again. Like the day I went to the custom shop to get fitted for a couple of new suits. I congratulate you on your choice of materials. the silver mohair and silk will make up into a perfectly lovely suit. And so will the tweed. And don't forget the extra padding on the shoulders. Well, if you'll forgive me, it's the natural look this year.

The real look of the 50s. No padding. Extra padding on the shoulders. Well, of course, as you wish. I wish. Certainly, certainly, sir. Now, if you'll just stand still for a moment while I drape this material over your shoulder. Hey, what do you think you're doing? Hey, let's go of my arm, please. Put that scissors down. Drop it, I tell you. Stop it.

What? All I was trying to do, Sam. I know what you were trying to do. Well, I'm very sorry, sir. Very sorry. I assure you it won't happen again. But you see... You see, Sammy. You've got to realize it could be anybody. Anybody at all. It was happening again. The tailor who was standing there in front of me, right in the middle of a sentence.

It was your voice that was coming out of him. Your words. Then there was that day in Luigi's barber shop. Hadn't been to the barber in weeks. Luigi had been my barber for 15 years. There was one guy in the world I could trust. It was him. That's what the guy on the radio says, Sam. If we get the same kind of heat tomorrow like we have today, it's going to set some kind of record.

Imagine, the end of September, 96 degrees. Yeah, that's what they call real Indian summer. If it don't cool off, Sam, they can give this summer back to the Indians. You understand? I sweated out every stroke of that sharp razor. While Luigi went droning on about the weather, I held my breath, thinking maybe my friend. He was your friend too, Johnny. My eyes are shut.

All he has to do is to let that blade slip just one little bit. Accidentally, you know. All right, chin up a little higher, Sam. Just a little more. And who would know the difference? Ah, there we go. Let me just lower the chair a little, huh? What are you doing? Well, like always, a nice hot towel opens up all of the pores.

When they're open, a little lotion closes them up again. He could have let me have it right then and there while he was shaving me. But he didn't. When he wrapped that hot towel over my face, instead of it feeling good, I suddenly got the idea that this could be it. Luigi could smother me to death. And there I sat, helpless, beneath that hot towel.

I ripped it off, screaming, You thought you had me, didn't you? You and your hot towel. What's the matter with you? Here's what you can do with your call. I have to think of something better than that. Only you'll never get the chance. You've seen me here for the last time. I don't know what you're talking about, Sam. But it won't do you no good.

Getting excited this way. It was your voice again, Johnny. You gotta learn to calm down, take things easy. Listen to me, Sam. Easy does it. After all, there's only three more days to go. Right? I raced all the way back to my hotel. I got to my room, I opened the door, and I slammed it shut. Oh, my lungs were bursting. I sucked in whatever air I could in big gulps.

There was a sharp pain in the middle of my chest, like a knife sticking right into me. But I was safe. Nobody could get at me here. Never mind that idiotic idea of trying to find out put the finger on me. Just sit it out. Sit it out. Right here. Right here, I told myself. Play it safe. But when I looked around the room, I knew that I was not safe.

Even here. There was a peculiar feeling about the place. You couldn't say exactly what it was until you looked to see what time it was. And then I saw that my little electric clock on the dresser was turned around with its face to the wall, and it was unplugged. In the bathroom, there was broken glass sitting in the sink. Somebody had been there, that's for sure.

No, no maids. I never let the maids in, maids or anybody else, except Linda. Linda was right. She was right. I had to get those locks changed today without waiting another hour. Well, yes, sir, they may cost you a little more, but you know, you've got the best and safest locks American ingenuity can devise. Well, this makes me feel a whole lot better.

Now, when you turn the key, this pin tumbler drops right down into the holes that are waiting for them. Uh-huh. And there you are, safe and sound. Now you should have real peace of mind. Thank you. Thank you very much. And here are your keys, one for each lock. No duplicates, just like you ordered on the phone. fine. Take my advice, sir.

Change your mind. Get duplicates made. I don't want any duplicates. Well, it might be a lot of trouble to get them later on. Each key is made on a special machine. The formula of each key is registered. It's the way I want it. But supposing you lose one of them, the only way you're ever going to get in is to call me, which might be somewhat inconvenient for you.

Now, suppose you've got a real friendly date. You've had a fine dinner. Why was he giving me this big song and dance about the possibility of lost couple of keys. Why was this guy, guy I'd never seen before, picked the address right out of the yellow pages? Why was he so anxious for me to order duplicate keys? And that's why I recommend you have another pair made.

I have no intention of losing these keys. Well, no one ever wants to, but take my advice. I don't want your advice. And suddenly it hit me. This could be the guy you picked to get me. There's some crazy coincidence. Who was he anyway? Somebody I picked out of the phone book. And that's why he was telling me this bill of goods about duplicate keys.

The whole thing was a big put on. Here, here's your money. Thank you. Well, whatever you say, you're the boss. Now get out of here. Get out before I throw you out. If anything should happen, don't say I didn't warn you. A door you can't get into could turn out to be a matter of life and death. But maybe you're right. If someone really wants to get in there.

I don't know how you did it, but that trick with the voices was driving me up the wall. I guess a little thing like a couple of keys is not going to stop them. We both know that, Sammy. Don't we? I was trapped. It was bad enough the way it was before. Now with the locks changed by this strange guy, the walls began closing in on me.

The room got smaller and smaller. The air I tried to breathe burned my lungs. I threw open the window and took a deep breath. It didn't do any good. It's like a fire inside of me. I could only get a little sleep. I would try to face what the next day might bring. After a while, I went into the bathroom. You stepped into the shower, turned on the water, right?

Hard. Ah, the spray of the shower felt good. It seemed to wash away all the crazy things you were feeling. You gave yourself a good, brisk rub down with a heavy bath towel. Until my skin tingled and glowed from the rubbing. You thought, I'll brush my teeth and hit the sack for a good night's rest. And then... Then as I started to put the toothbrush into my mouth, there in the bathroom mirror, I saw something that blew my mind into little bits.

The teeth I was brushing, the eyes that were watching, were not my teeth, not my eyes. They were not mine, Johnny. They were yours. I'd never see that face in that mirror again. And then, instead of panicking, the funniest thing happened. Everything suddenly became clear. For the first time in weeks, my thoughts were not confused. It all came into focus. For the first time, it got to me that I was letting the whole pattern of my life be spelled out by a dead man.

And where the day before that idea would have hit you like a wallop in the pit of your stomach. Where yesterday the idea would have made you dizzy and sick. Right that minute, as you looked at the mirror you'd just smashed, you realized it didn't have to be this way, didn't you? It was a sense from this point on. You'd been trying to rattle me, Johnny.

But now I knew exactly what I had to do. And that was to stay just where I was, with the door locked, till the month was up. Tell me how you caught the dateline of the newspaper that was lying on the bed. How you stared at it. How it kept moving towards you. The print grew bigger and bigger. It exploded at me.

Today was September 27th. One more day. One more day and the month would be over. And you, Johnny, would be out of my life forever. My head began to swim with excitement. Kept telling myself, live through this one day, Sammy. Get through this night. and then five o'clock tomorrow morning you've got it made. What made me so absolutely 100% sure? Simple. Johnny Promise never went back on his word, right?

Right. I made a grab for the phone. Frontess, can I help you? What time is it exactly? Exactly 11.15 p.m. You sure? Just checked it with the radio. I'll set my clock. It stopped. And today's the 27th? It'll be the 28th and three quarters of an hour at midnight. And don't forget... Thank you very much. By the way, the young lady just came in.

She's standing here at the desk. She'd like to talk to you. What young lady? Your young lady. Oh. Oh, put her on. How are you feeling, Sam? It couldn't be better. A couple hours more and it'll all be over. What are you doing down there in the lobby? I thought I'd be close in case you needed anything. Well, uh, why don't you get us a couple of hamburgers and coffee?

Right away. See you soon. He's feeling great, he says. Well, that's nice for a change. He's sure that in only a few hours he'll be a free man again. Poor guy. Why don't you tell him? I couldn't. I don't know what he'd do if he knew. Anyway, he'd never believe me. It might be the best way. Tell him the truth. How could I tell him that he's a very sick man?

that his whole sense of time is mixed up, confused, that he doesn't know one day from another. In the state he's in, how could I possibly tell him that Johnny Promise actually went to the electric chair almost three years ago? Does one tell a dying man what he's about to meet? Or keep the secret from him? I suppose it depends on how you see death If you look at it as a friend You entertain it If it comes as an enemy You prepare to overcome it Death has its greatest advantage When it comes as a stranger As it may or may not Be coming to Sam Rogers We'll know the answer when we return shortly with Act Three It has been said, a man is never less alone than when he is alone.

Thoughts crowd in on him. His imagination summons up multitudes. And which is harder to bear. The fear of loneliness. Or as in the case of Sam Rogers, the loneliness that comes from fear. Somewhere in a lonely graveyard, a cold wind whistles over the moonlit tombs. From a purgatory of his own making, Sam Rogers is forced by Johnny Promise for the ten-thousandth time to recreate the path of his downfall.

In my hotel room, I kept staring at the clock in my dresser. The hands didn't seem to move at all. They moved so slowly. And then it was midnight. Midnight at last, right on the nose. Only five more hours to five o'clock. That was when you got yours, Johnny. Five a.m. And here I was. That's five hours short of the deadline you'd set for me.

Five hours? Five years. My blood went cold. Little bumps on the back of my neck. My throat scratchy and dry. I wasn't about to fall for any more of your tricks, Johnny. Smart boy. You sat there on the bed waiting. You weren't going to answer. The knocking kept on louder and louder with more and more force. You sat so still the muscles in your back and legs began to stiffen and ache.

There was a dull pounding at the base of your skull. Finally you saw the sheet of paper come sliding under the door Four words written in red With what seemed to be lipstick It's me, Linda Open Carefully, quietly I got off the bed Went to the door and I whispered Who is it? It's me Open the door Did you forget? The hamburgers and the coffee?

Get in, quick Are you all right? Fine. Here's your coffee. Light. The way you like it. And no sugar? No sugar. The rare hamburger is yours. In less than five hours, Linda, we're going to leave this town for good. I never want to see it again. We'll start all over again. Fresh. Maybe Alaska. Or Mexico. Whatever you say, Sam. Talked about plans for the future.

Where we might go. What we'd do. A family would raise, pushing all other thoughts right out of our heads. It was exciting and beautiful. I looked at the clock again. We're at the time gone. It was a quarter to five. I said to Linda, you've got to leave. Why? When I walk out that door, I want to do it alone. You understand why?

Of course I understand. I'll meet you in about an hour at your place. Good night, Sam. The next time I looked at the clock, it was a couple of minutes past five. The time had come at last. I'd paid my dues. And I'd showed you up, Johnny Promise. For the first time, your word wasn't worth so much as one bent nickel. I mustn't take any chances.

Not at this late date. 110% foolproof. Safe. Give myself every possible break. The benefit of every doubt. No chances. Give myself, uh, what? Half hour cushion? Wait till 5.30 at least. And beat it out of here. Fast and forever. And you hung on. Those last few minutes were the longest in your life, weren't they? Finally, that big hand on the clock dropped down to the 6.

It was 5.30. A half hour past the deadline I'd set for you. So you took a deep breath and you screamed. You lost, Johnny. boss. Sammy outsmarted you. So run away in your grave. Bit by bit. Piece by piece. Because I'm alive, Johnny. And I'm going to stay alive. But you, my friend, are dead. As dead as yesterday. 5.40. 20 minutes to 6.

I turned the keys. First in one lock. Then the other. I flung open the door. I ran down the hallway, rang for the elevator. When I got to my floor, the door opened. I took one last look behind me and got into the elevator car. But then you thought, the elevator man. Can I trust him? Was he dependable? Could he possibly? No.

No, that's all over and done with. I don't have to be afraid of anybody. Not anymore. You've had your bad dream. You were finished with waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. The nightmare was over. The only thing that was real was that you were alive and breathing. What happened when the car reached the lobby floor? I rushed past the front desk out into the street.

There was a chill, penetrating drizzle. It was still dark. The promise of a new day was doing its best to break through in the east. For the first time in I don't know how long, I felt able to slow down. I started walking in the direction of Linda's place. Slow, the sure, firm step. The streets were deserted. It figures. A Sunday morning, quarter to six.

Wonderful feeling, wasn't it? Like the whole city belonged to you and you alone. That's right. The buildings took on a look of friendliness. Like I'd never seen them before. The traffic lights were changing from red to green, then back from green to red. But there was no traffic. Like a ghost city. Abandoned. and my own footsteps echoed behind me as I walked.

Was it my imagination? I thought I heard two pair of footsteps following mine. But you didn't have the guts to turn around and look back. For a minute you thought maybe they were your own footsteps echoing down those narrow streets. I stopped. They stopped. I started to walk. They started. I got to a corner and quickly turned into the other street. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two men.

It wasn't light enough to make out their faces. They weren't saying a word. They just seemed to have their minds on one thing. To keep me in their sight, no matter where I went. My heart stopped. There they were, less than 50 feet behind me. Following. Following. Sickening thought came to me. Terrifying. Tell me about it. It's possible, I thought. Anything is possible.

Suppose, just suppose in some crazy way that I made a mistake. Suppose my clock had been wrong. I think it's a quarter to six, but I suppose... Then all of a sudden you found yourself passing the jewelry shop. You looked up at the big clock that hung over the entrance. It almost passed out with what I saw. I swallowed hard. My mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton wadding.

I looked up once more to make sure. And what did you see? The clock said a quarter to five. A quarter to five, not six. Something was wrong, wasn't it? The whole thing was like crazy. How could it be? And those two faceless men were still there following you. There was a bank on the opposite corner. I raced across to look at the clock outside the bank.

I couldn't believe what I saw. That clock, too, said a quarter to five. Then I began running. I didn't know where. I didn't care. Those clocks, for some insane reason, were right, and I was wrong. Then I still owed you 15 minutes, Johnny. You still had 15 minutes to get me. And those two men following me. It can't be, I told myself.

Those clocks are both crazy. It's like quarter to six. It has to be. You checked and double-checked. And then something like a heavy sledgehammer hit you right between the eyes. Sammy, you stupid, ignorant dummy, you said to yourself. How could you be so blind? How could you have missed it? That's what the desk clerk was trying to tell you. It was the last Sunday in September.

In those days, daylight savings time ended at 2 o'clock in the morning. The last Sunday in September. Of course. And those clocks had all been turned back for an hour. Only I forgot to turn my clock back. It is a quarter to five. It's five, not six. You crazy fool. You thick-skulled, brainless imbecile. You deserve to die. Now we're getting to the best part, ain't we, Sammy?

You began to walk, right? Slow at first. little faster. Finally breaking into a run. Whenever you got to a corner, you turned. When you saw an alley, you ran into it. When there was a fence, you vaulted over it. Then out into the streets again. But no matter what you did, wherever you went, those same two characters stuck to your tail. You couldn't shake them.

They stuck right behind me, always the same 50 feet away. I kept running until I thought my sides would burst. And then way off in the distance. I heard the deep-floated bombs of a church bell. It's breaking the hour. I stopped running. Wait a second. Count it. Three. Four. Five. Come on. Come on, six. Come on. That was it, Sammy boy. You doubled up and fell to the pavement.

You never got to the count of six. Because there wasn't any six. You dropped right there where you were standing, right? Your body crumpled up like a little rag doll. It was all over, just like I promised. Except for one thing. One little thing. Remember, Sammy? I remember. Tell me how it was, Sammy. I dropped, like you said. And then? The two men rushed up.

One of them felt my pulse, and the other my heart. And there was no pulse. There was no heartbeat. I was dead. Go on, Sam. One of the men got up from where he'd been kneeling over my body, turned slowly to the other fellow, and said, he's dead all right. And not a mark on him. That big newspaper delivery truck passed by.

Backfired. Just backfired. And this guy drops dead. I guess we'd better call the police. So Johnny kept his word after all, didn't he? And even today, from where he is now, He keeps assuring the rest of his companions. It's like it's my coat of honor. Once I give my word, I never break it. That's why they still call me Johnny Promise. Right, Sammy?

Right, Johnny. Oh, and, uh, Sammy. Yeah? Tomorrow I want you to tell me the whole story all over again. From the very beginning. Right? Right. I'll be back shortly. You may recall that Johnny had promised he was going to give Sammy the best of care. Everlasting, perpetual care. Which is exactly what happened. Before he passed away Johnny signed a contract with the cemetery To provide Sammy Rogers' grave with perpetual care Weeds removed Flowers four times a year Neat and beautiful Till the end of time Always a man of his word Our cast included Joseph Julian, Michael Tolan, June Gable, and Guy Repp.

The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. This is E.G. Marshall inviting you to return to our Mystery Theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time, pleasant dreams. The preceding mystery theater program was furnished by the CBS Radio Network.