SFX:
Telephone rings twice
SFX:
Phone is picked up
Johnny:
Johnny Dollar...
Tilly:
(on phone) Dollar, this is Raymond Tilloton...
Johnny:
Tilloton??
Tilly:
Yes, yes... Eastern Liability and Trust.
Johnny:
Well, what can I do for you, sir?
Tilly:
(urgently) Can you come over here and see me right away?
Johnny:
You mean you're in your office at this time of night?
Tilly:
(even more urgently) No, no, no... at... err... my apartment....4A at the Kernsley Arms.
Johnny:
Well, what sort of a matter would you like me to investigate, mister Tilloton?
Tilly:
(slightly annoyed) No, no, there's no matter... not YET, that is. But that doesn't make any difference, I MUST see you.
Johnny:
Well, look, mister Tilloton...
Tilly:
(interrupting) ... and right away, PLEASE!
Johnny:
Well, unless I have some idea what your problem is...
Tilly:
(interrupting) Good heavens, man! Can't you see this is urgent and important?
Johnny:
Well, it certainly SOUNDS like it!
Tilly:
Well, them come immediately 4A at the Kernsley Arms!
SFX:
click of phone being hung up
Johnny:
Look, mister..... ... hello?
SFX:
Rattle of hook switch
Johnny:
Hello?? (pause) Hmmmmm
SFX:
phone being hung up
MFX:
INTRO MUSIC fades to announcer
Announcer:
The CBS Radio Network brings you the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator....
Johnny:
Yours, truly, Johnny Dollar.
MFX:
THEME MUSIC UP, THEN OUT
Johnny:
(as if dictating) Expense account submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar to Eastern Liability and Trust home office, Hartford, Connecticut. The following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of (slight pause) THE NO MATTER (slight pause) MATTER.
MFX:
SPOOKY JAZZ BRIDGE
Johnny:
Raymond Tilloton was new to me, I'd never even heard of the man. But Eastern Liability and Trust was an old and generous client. So, in spite of the fact that it was after 11 PM, I put on a shirt and tie, and spent, item one, four seventy for a tank of gas, and drove across town to the Kernsley Arms. (pause) It's not the newest of apartment buildings, and after riding up the shaky old elevator, I landed on the 4th floor.
SFX:
ELEVATOR DOOR SLIDING OPEN
Johnny:
It was lighted by a single, fly-specked bulb at the far end of a dingy hallway.
SFX:
MAN'S FOOTSTEPS WALKING SLOWLY DOWN HALL
Johnny:
Now, let's see... Tilloton said 4A... Oh, here we are...
SFX:
FOOTSTEPS STOP
SFX:
DOOR BUZZER (long pause) DOOR BUZZER AGAIN
Johnny:
Hmmm
SFX:
KNOCK ON DOOR
Johnny:
Mister Tilloton?
SFX:
LONGER, MORE EMPHATIC KNOCK ON DOOR
Johnny:
That's funny...
SFX:
DOOR HANDLE RATTLE (as if Johnny is seeing if the door is locked)
Johnny:
... some kind of light on in there...
SFX:
ANOTHER KNOCK ON DOOR
Johnny:
(loudly calling) Mister Tilloton! (pause) He was so badly worried about something, maybe I can slip this lock with a card... (slight grunt) A lock of this vintage ought to be a lead-pipe cinch...
SFX:
RATTLE OF DOOR OPENING
Johnny:
(pleased with himself) There we are... (calling) Mister Tilloton, are you in here?
SFX:
DOOR CLOSING
Johnny:
(surprised) Oh! Excuse me, miss! I must have come to the wrong apartment! (pause) Miss??
MFX:
STING THEN UNDER, THEN OUT DURING THE FOLLOWING
Johnny:
The girl sitting by the window was about 25, brunette and beautiful. Her brown eyes were wide open, staring at the floor, but they weren't seeing anything. She didn't move. There was no sign of breathing, her chest was perfectly still. And above the pocket of her silk blouse, was an ugly hole with a powder burn around it. It must have been made by a gun at close range. I didn't touch her, but I looked around for a telephone. (pause) (calling) Mister Tilloton?? Maybe there's a phone in the bedroom.
SFX: FOUR FOOTSTEPS ON FLOOR
Johnny:
Can't find a light switch in here....ah! there we are. There's a telephone.
SFX: PHONE BEING PICKED UP
Tilly:
(menacing) DON'T TURN AROUND... I HAVE A GUN!
Johnny:
I'll take your word for it!
Tilly:
You shouldn't have come, Dollar!
SFX:
PHONE BEING HUNG UP
Tilly:
(intensely angry) YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME!
SFX:
JOHNNY BEING HIT WITH BLACKJACK THEN BODY HITTING FLOOR.
MFX:
JAZZ BRIDGE
Johnny:
Musta been along about dawn when I finally came to. At least I could see a bit of light around the edges of the tightly-drawn shades. My head felt as if it had been split wide open. (pause) Somehow I managed to reach over and pick up the phone and call the police before collapsing again, this time on the bed. How long I lay there, I'm not sure. But then I awaken, and stagger into the bathroom and doused my aching head with cold water.
SFX: WATER SPLASHING IN SINK
Johnny:
(cough)
SFX:
KNOCK ON DOOR
Johnny:
(with effort) Ah...coming...
SFX:
KNOCK ON DOOR
Johnny:
(more loudly) COMING!
SFX:
KNOCK ON DOOR as policeman speaks off mic
Cop #1:
This is the police. Open up in there!
Johnny:
All right, all right, I'm coming!
SFX:
DOOR OPENING
Johnny:
Oh it's...
Cop #1:
(interrupting) Well, well! It's you, huh?
Johnny:
Yeah, now listen, officer...
Cop #1:
(chuckling) Now don't tell me the great Johnny Dollar has to beg for help from us poor guys on the force!
Johnny:
I said listen, officer, there's been a murder here!
Cop #1:
No kidding! Murder?
Johnny:
That's right! See for yourself! It's this girl right over here...
Cop #1:
(annoyed) WHAT girl?
Johnny:
(bewildered) She was here, I'm sure of it! Right here in this chair!
Cop #1:
Who????
Johnny:
A girl, I tell you---a brunette---a young good looking brunette.
Cop #1:
And she was dead, huh?
Johnny:
Yes! she... (pause) but where is she now?
Cop #1:
Now you tell me, Johnny!
Johnny:
I tell ya she was lying right there in that chair!
Cop #1:
When?
Johnny:
Last night! When I came here.
Cop #1:
(starting not to believe Johnny) Yeah? What time?
Johnny:
(getting agitated) I don't know! Some time after 11.
Cop #1:
Had a late date with her, huh?
Johnny:
(emphatically) I don't know who she was!
Cop #1:
Ohhhh, she was THAT kind, huh?
Johnny:
Look, when I came in here, she was..... .what's the matter with you? Don't you believe me?
Cop #1:
So what REALLY happened? Ya tie one on and dream it all up?
Johnny:
(angry) NO!
Cop #1:
You sure look it. Do you see any sign of her around here? (pause) No perfume, no cigarette butts with lipstick, no nuthin'? (pause) Sittin' right here, huh?
Johnny:
YES!
Cop #1:
Then how come this lamp isn't on?
Johnny:
(deflated) I don't know.
Cop #1:
You didn't turn it off, Dollar?
Johnny:
Nope (pause) Wait a minute! I remember now, it wasn't on before. That's why I didn't notice it at first when I came in the door.
Cop #1:
Well, didn't she let you in?
Johnny:
No.
Cop #1:
Then who did?
Johnny:
Nobody...
Cop #1:
(interrupting) Oh, come off it, Dollar! I don't know what you're trying to pull off! (pause) OK, how was she killed? You answer me that!
Johnny:
It was a bullet just above her heart.
Cop #1 You took it out and examined it, huh, so you could tell us what make and model it came from! And where's the smell of cordite you always get when a gun is fired? Me, I can smell that stuff for two days afterward.
Johnny:
Listen to me, officer...
Cop #1:
(bitterly) Why don't ya listen to ME, huh? What kind of gag is this? What are you trying to do? What's this all about? (pause) WELL??
Johnny:
(sigh) I wish I knew...
MFX:
SPOOKY BRIDGE
Johnny:
I stopped in the office of the building superintendent before I left the place.
Super:
Yes, sir! Apartment 4A is leased by mister Tilloton, all right, but what's it your business?
Johnny:
Well, that depends...
Super:
And what was the policeman doing here? And why did he talk to you that way when he left? Who are you?
Johnny:
(annoyed) (off mic) Don't worry about it!
Super:
Just a minute, young man! Don't you walk out on me!...MFX: UP TEMPO BRIDGE FADE DURING FOLLWING
Johnny:
I climbed back into my car and drove to a drug store, where the kid behind the photo counter gave me a jolt of something to clear my head. Then on to the Superior Building to the office of mister Raymond Tilloton, who had started all of this.
SFX:
DOOR OPEN (pause) THEN CLOSE
Johnny:
(forcefully) I'm Johnny Dollar...
Raymond:
Dollar, did you say?
Johnny:
(gruffly) THAT'S RIGHT! Johnny Dollar, mister Tilloton.
Raymond:
(slightly puzzled) You're an insurance investigator, aren't you?
Johnny:
Sure! When I'm not collecting funeral money for a brunette!
Raymond:
(completely surprised) When you're WHAT?
Johnny:
(annoyed) Don't play it so cool! Let's start with that phone call you made to me.
Raymond:
To YOU?
Johnny:
YES! to ME!
Raymond:
I don't even know your..... ... WHEN, mister Dollar?
Johnny:
Last night, 11 O'Clock. What call do you think I'm talking about? Look, Tilloton, I'm in NO mood to play games!
Raymond:
But I didn't, mister Dollar. The only phone calls I made here in New Haven were yesterday afternoon.
Johnny:
(disbelieving) Oh, there were, huh? Then hows come I recognize your voice? WAIT A MINUTE! Did you say New Haven?
Raymond:
(matter of fact) Yes, I spent all of yesterday and last night in New Haven.
Johnny:
You mean to say that you WEREN'T at your apartment at the Kernsley Arms last night?
Raymond:
(getting annoyed) I TOLD YOU, I was in New Haven!
Johnny:
WHY?
Raymond:
Now look here, mister Dollar, would you please tell me what this is all about?
Johnny:
I asked you a question.
Raymond:
(pause) Very well....I was visiting my mother. It was her birthday.
Johnny:
Your mother, huh?
Raymond:
Yes.
Johnny:
Where does she live in New Haven?
Raymond:
A little house at 10-34 Lolinga Avenue. (suddenly upset) WHY? why are you pouncing on me like this? Why all these questions?
Johnny:
You don't know?
Raymond:
No. (pause) I....ahhh... I don't understand what this is all about. Believe me, mister Dollar. Believe me, PLEASE!
Johnny:
You really mean that, don't you, mister Tilloton?
Raymond:
Of course I do! I simply don't understand this, mister Dollar. Is there something wrong?
Johnny:
Yes! VERY wrong!
MFX:
MUSIC BRIDGE
Johnny:
I was sure of that voice! It was the same one I heard on the phone. And I heard it in his apartment just before the roof fell in on me. (long pause) All right, item three is two dollars train fare to New Haven then a taxi to the address on Lolinga Avenue. (pause) It was a large, rather nice, but very old fashioned home near a busy shopping section. A kindly, gentle, gray-haired lady invited me in.
Mrs. Tilloton:
Yes, mister Dollar, I was 87 yesterday. Think of that! 87 years old! And it was SO nice to have one of my boys with me on my birthday!
Johnny:
Of course!
Mrs. Tilloton:
Raymond's in the insurance business you know, in Hartford. Doing very well, too, and just terribly busy all the time. But he took the whole day off just to come and be with me! Now wasn't that nice?
Johnny:
Yes, it was, indeed. Now tell me, when did he leave you, Mrs. Tilloton?
Mrs. Tilloton:
(thinking) Ohh, he stayed here with me here until after supper. You see, he brought me a lovely birthday cake! Wouldn't you like a piece of it? It's very delicious!
Johnny:
Oh, no, thank you very much! (pause) (softly) Funny... he HAD time.
Mrs. Tilloton:
Oh? For what?
Johnny:
To get on back to Hartford to his apartment to call me, and then... (voice trails off)
Mrs. Tilloton:
Yes?? (pause) And what, mister Dollar?
Johnny:
Ahhhh.... nothing (sigh) Nothing that you need worry about. Thank you, Mrs. Tilloton.
MFX:
LONG SOMEWHAT SPOOKY BRIDGE
Johnny:
As I walked out to hale a taxi, a car pulled up at the curb.
SFX:
CAR COMING TO A HALT
Johnny:
One look at the driver as she climbed out of the car stopped me in my tracks. She was a dead ringer for the girl I found murdered in Ray Tilloton's apartment. (pause) Same age, height, figure, EVERYTHING! Except this one was a blonde.
MFX:
SHORT SEXY STING
Clara:
Welllll, why the big eye, mister? Is my slip showing?
Johnny:
Huh? (pause) Oh! No, no miss, I'm sorry... It's just that errr...
Clara:
Yes?
Johnny:
Ummmm (as if thinking) Are you going in to see Mrs. Tilloton?
Clara:
Well! I don't know if that's any business of yours! But....Yes, yes I am. I'm sort of an old friend of the family.
Johnny:
(interested) Oh?
Clara:
My name's Clara. What's yours?
Johnny:
Johnny Dollar, but tell me...
Clara:
(interrupting) Johnny Dollar! The investigator??
Johnny:
That's right.
Clara:
Oh! Thank goodness! I want to talk to you, Johnny!
Johnny:
Well, that makes us even then, 'cuz I'd like to talk to you!
Clara:
No, no, I mean about something VERY important!
Johnny:
So do I.
Clara:
Look, there's a little bar and grill just around the corner, Danny's Place. Maybe over a drink, huh?
Johnny:
(very interested) Why not?
MFX:
LONG SLIGHTLY SPOOKY BRIDGE
Johnny:
Stepping into the gloomy interior of Danny's Place, after the bright sunlight, was like suddenly stepping into the middle of midnight. By the time I had clumsily stumbled against a table near the door... Oh, sorry....
Clara:
I know, it's kinda dark in here (little chuckle) Ohhh, and certainly empty, too!
Johnny:
At the end of the bar sat one lone customer, his back toward us. There was no sign of a bartender.
Clara:
Here, Johnny. We can take this table right here.
Johnny:
Yeah, all right. (pause) What happened? Did they run out of electricity in this place?
Clara:
(laughs) Certainly looks like it!
Johnny:
A little bit of light might help answer a few questions for me.
Clara:
(quizzical) Questions, Johnny?
Johnny:
Uh-huh (pause) Yes, Clara. Like...uhhh... how you happened to show up at Mrs. Tilloton's JUST as I was leaving?
Clara:
(innocently) But I TOLD you, Johnny!
Johnny:
(accusingly) 'Cuz you tailed me down here from Hartford, maybe?
Clara:
Tailed you???
Johnny:
Because you figured maybe I'm on to something and you might be better off playing on my side?
Clara:
(annoyed) Johnny, I don't know what you're talking about!
Johnny:
(suddenly serious) Now wait a minute. (pause) A trap for me? Is that it? (pause) (again accusing) And who's the lone customer sitting there at the end of the bar? Friend of yours?
Clara:
Johnny Dollar, I DON'T know what you're talking about!
Johnny:
No? All right then, let's put it this way: What happened to the silk blouse with the phoney bullet hole above the pocket, and the powder burns? And I AM keeping an eye on that guy at the end of the bar. Well, Clara?
Clara:
Phoney bullet hole? Powder burn?
Johnny:
YES! To make you look DEAD!
Clara:
Oh! But that doesn't make any sense! WHERE? WHEN? and WHAT ARE you talking about?
Johnny:
Come on now, quit stalling around, and take off the blonde wig because it IS a wig, isn't it? And you are about the same as the girl I found supposedly murdered!
Clara:
OK (pause) OK so the hair isn't real. But this IS, Johnny!
SFX:
SOUND OF PISTOL BEING COCKED
Johnny:
(somber) I see...
Clara:
(excited) No, no, no! DON'T go after yours! AND DON'T MOVE!
Johnny:
You make a practice of waving a 25 caliber automatic at people?
Clara:
(defiant) YES! When I need to! And right now is one of those times when I... Now! DON'T MOVE! And DON'T turn around!
Johnny:
The boyfriend, huh?
Clara:
(calling) OK, Tilly! It's OK now. (pause) You can come over and finish him off.
SFX:
THREE FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING
Tilly:
(starts off mic, walking towards it) Just keep the gun on him, Clara.
Johnny:
Not if this table isn't glued to the floor! (voice rising in excitement)
SFX:
SOUND OF PUNCH LANDING
Clara:
NO!!
SFX:
GUNSHOT THEN SHORT SCUFFLE
Johnny:
(ordering) GIVE ME THAT GUN, CLARA! GIVE IT TO ME!
Tilly:
(off mic) Oh, no you don't!
SFX:
SOUND OF PUNCH LANDING
Johnny:
(as if in pain) ARRGHH!
SFX:
BODY HITTING FLOOR
MFX:
LONG INTERLUDE
Johnny:
You know something? Twice in 24 hours, and both from somebody coming up in back of me, is a little too much. But if I had turned away from her, to take care of him, I woulda ended up with a 25 caliber slug in me, so I chose the lesser of two evils.
Cop #2:
Hey, Johnny!
SFX:
LIGHTLY SLAPPING FACE
Johnny:
When I came to this time, (both speaking at same time)
Cop #2:
Johnny Dollar! Come on!
Johnny:
a young policeman was bending over me...
Cop #2:
Hey, Johnny! (end of both talking at the same time)
Johnny:
(groggy) Huh? Owww... (gasps)
Cop #2:
Someone really laid one on you, Dollar, huh?
Johnny:
Ohhhh, (still a bit groggy) What happened?
Cop #2:
I went through your pockets and found your ID.
Johnny:
(still making noises as if in pain)
Cop #2:
Johnny Dollar, Investigator.
Johnny:
Yeah...(makes noise as if in pain) Oh, wow! (pause) Officer, did you see them? Did you see where they went?
Cop #2:
They?
Johnny:
Two of them, a girl and a man.
Cop #2:
Nawwww, They musta seen me coming and skipped out the back. Back door's open.
Johnny:
Ohhh (still in pain)
Cop #2:
But I'd heard a shot from across the street, and knowing that Danny's Place is supposed to be closed...
Johnny:
(interrupting) Closed?
Cop #2:
Yeah, sure! Ever since we figured maybe Danny was partners with that guy, Tilloton...
Johnny:
(interrupting) TILLOTON?
Cop #2:
That's right. (pause) Tilly, the punk that one day we're gonna grab for pushin' dope around here.
Johnny:
I see.
Cop #2:
Anyhow, when I heard the shot... (pause) well, lucky for you I am always keeping an eye on this joint. But, HEY! maybe it WASN'T Tilly that slugged you!
Johnny:
No, it was Tilloton all right, officer. I could tell by his voice. And she called him Tilly.
Cop #2:
OK! Now we've got a charge against him! IF we can find him.
Johnny:
Just leave him to me!
Cop #2:
Hey now wait! Dollar!
Johnny:
I'll see ya later.
SFX:
DOOR SLAM
MFX:
BRIDGE
Johnny:
Item four, three and a quarter for the ride back to Hartford. I drove on over to Tilloton's office in the Superior Building.
Secretary:
No, I'm sorry. Mister Tilloton hasn't been in this afternoon.
Johnny:
(sarcastically) I don't doubt it! All right, miss, thank you.
Secretary:
It's QUITE often he's out of the office, you know. Out selling insurance.
Johnny:
(still sarcastic) Don't bank on that!
MFX:
BRIDGE
Johnny:
Now, we'll see if he's stupid enough to have pulled up back here at the Kernsley Arms, instead of getting out of town.
SFX:
KNOCK ON DOOR
Raymond:
(way off mic as if on other side of door) Yes?
Johnny:
(ordering) JOHNNY DOLLAR! OPEN UP!
SFX:
DOOR OPENING
Raymond:
Dollar, I'm glad to see you.
Johnny:
You are, huh?
Raymond:
Yes.
Johnny:
Suppose you tell me why?
Raymond:
Well, because of this morning at my office you said some very strange things.
Johnny:
Yeah?
Raymond:
Then, after you left, I got a call from the superintendent of this apartment. He said that you and a policeman had been here last night.
Johnny:
And that surprised you?
Raymond:
Yes, of course it did. (pause) Then there were all your questions about where I'd been yesterday.
Johnny:
Look, Tilloton, I just paid a visit to your sweet and unsuspecting mother.
Raymond:
You were (pause) checking up on me?
Johnny:
You KNOW I was!
Raymond:
Then you know I didn't lie, that I WAS with her yesterday.
Johnny:
SURE! Until after supper, but after THAT? (long pause) C'mon! Let's have it, Tilloton!
Raymond:
(haltingly) Well... I ... uhh, had some ...someone else to see there in New Haven. And... uhhh... I ... uhh stayed in a hotel there.
Johnny:
(disbelieving) In New Haven, huh?
Raymond:
Why do you say it that way?
Johnny:
(bearing down) Because you came on back here to this apartment to set up the phoney murder scene, (getting madder) then to call me!
Raymond:
(incredulous) MURDER SCENE???
Johnny:
(really mad) YES! THAT BRUNETTE!
Raymond:
Mister Dollar....
Johnny:
(interrupting) The girl, I suppose is mixed up in a narcotics racket with you, Tilloton! (long pause) Oh! The word 'narcotics' makes you blanch a little, doesn't it?
Raymond:
(deflated) Yes.
Johnny:
Anyhow, you got me here with your call, and thanks to her, you threw me off guard long enough to slug me from behind.
Raymond:
(flatly) No.
Johnny:
And a pretty good job of it, too, Tilloton! But it DIDN'T leave me dead!
Raymond:
Dollar...
Johnny:
(interrupting and rapid-fire) You didn't know that though until I showed up at your office. Then, when you figured I'd see your mother, you tailed me down there! You and your cute little playmate. And there you made another try. (pause) BUT WHY, TILLOTON? Why gun for me? Because you got an idea that I might be on to your dope racket?
Raymond:
(VERY softly) Warren.....
Johnny:
But I wasn't! Not then, but I AM NOW!
Raymond:
Warren, mister Dollar...
Johnny:
What?
Raymond:
My brother, Warren---My twin. They call him "Tilly".
Johnny:
(confused) Your brother? (emphatic) Look, I know different because your mother told me that Warren is dead!
Raymond:
No, no mister Dollar, it was Warren that I went to see last night there in New Haven. One small one, just once more to plead with him to straighten himself out before it's too late....
Johnny:
(annoyed) IT DOESN'T WASH, TILLOTON! (pause) HE'S DEAD!
Raymond:
To mother? YES! (pause) To mother, Warren IS dead. By telling herself that, by believing it, she can reject him. The way that her religion, her beliefs and her heart all tell her that she MUST reject him. Because of all the wrongs that he's done.
Johnny:
Now wait a minute, Tilloton...
Raymond:
(emotional) I've..... ..... .I've tried to help, Dollar.... God knows I've tried! Tried to straighten him out. Not only for mother, but for himself. But he's only hated me. And WHY? Because of the money that mother will leave. To ME, and not to him. (pleading) Don't..... ... don't you see, Dollar?
Johnny:
(softening) All right. Suppose all of that is true...
Raymond:
(emphatically) As God as my witness!
Johnny:
And it's true that your mother's piety and religion are so strong, she won't even acknowledge her own son, Warren because of his sins?
Raymond:
(embarrassed) Yes (pause) It IS true.
Johnny:
(taken an audible breath) All right, but it still doesn't explain what's been going on HERE. The phoney murder... the attack on me!
Raymond:
But it DOES explain. Don't you see? It was made to look as though I'd done these things. And even if he had aroused a small suspicion on mother's part...
Johnny:
(interrupting) she'd cut YOU off too!
Raymond:
YES! (pause) Even only the slightest hint of wrong-doing. And he told me last night, that if he were to be left out of mother's will, he'd see to it that I was, too. That somehow, he'd get me involved in a scandal in something! (pause) Well, that's it, Dollar...that's it, and the reason for all of this.
Johnny:
OK, I'll take your word for it, but why call ME in? Because he knew I'd come here alone, where the police might have sent a whole squad around. And that would have shown up his trick with the girl.
Raymond:
Yes! Yes, that must be it!
Johnny:
And, because of his voice, he knew I'd think it was YOU!
Tilly:
(off mic) A real good theory, Dollar!
Johnny:
What?
SFX:
DOOR CLOSING
Johnny:
Well, well! Beauty and the beast!
Raymond:
(embarrassed) My brother..... Warren.
Clara:
That's right! And me! And don't make a move, either one of you!
Johnny:
So you like our theory, huh, Tilly?
Tilly:
(coming up to mic) Yeah, Dollar. Too bad you're right. (pause) Too bad ya know!
Clara:
(matter of factly) I told you, Tilly! I told you Dollar was the wrong pigeon to pick--He'd get wise.
Tilly:
So what? You think it's gonna do him any good? (pause) Not now, baby, not now!
Johnny:
(sternly) Could be you're wrong, Warren!
Raymond:
(pleading) Yes! Warren, listen to me!
Clara:
Well, what dya think you're gonna do? (chiding) We've got the gun! See?
Tilly:
That's right! (pause) Including YOURS, Dollar! From back in New Haven. That cop coming around is all that saved you. But you know what happens now...
Johnny:
Suppose you tell me, Warren...
Tilly:
Sure, Dollar, sure I'll tell you...
Clara:
(interrupting and annoyed) Oh, why waste the time?
Tilly:
First, I take care of Ray here with YOUR gun. Then YOU with Clara's gun. But who's prints do they find on them when they find you here? Nobody's but YOURS! (meanly) Yours and Ray's! (evil chuckle) All the time...
Clara:
(interrupting) GO AHEAD, TILLY! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Johnny:
(excitedly) MAYBE FOR YOU, CLARA! (Johnny grabs Clara)
SFX:
STRUGGLE
Clara:
(with great effort) LET GO OF ME!
SFX:
GUNSHOT
Clara:
ARRRGH!!
SFX:
BODY HITS FLOOR
Raymond:
(off mic) LAY OFF, WARREN!!
SFX:
SHORT STRUGGLE ENDS WITH SOUND OF PUNCH LANDING AND BODY HITTING FLOOR
Johnny:
(sighs) Well, mister Tilloton, it looks like you and I got lucky!
Raymond:
Yes...and he killed her, Johnny, when you grabbed her and he turned and fired.
Johnny:
(sighs again) (regretfully) This time, she really IS dead.
Raymond:
Johnny, the chance you took! She had her gun on you when you rushed her. She might have killed you!
Johnny:
I'll tell you something, mister Tilloton...
MFX:
BRIDGE (starts under)
Johnny:
I've never seen a girl who was really fast on the trigger. (pause) And I hope I never do...
MFX:
BRIDGE UP THEN UNDER
Johnny:
Ya know something else? (pause) The part I'm REALLY grateful about is that one more dope peddler is out of business. (pause) And Warren IS, you can be sure of that.
MFX:
BRIDGE OUT
Johnny:
(dictating) Expense account total, eleven forty-five. Yours, truly, Johnny Dollar.
MFX:
CLOSING STING
SFX:
SINCLAIR GASOLINE COMMERCIAL