THE EDGE OF NIGHT
Airdate: January 24, 1961
Episode # 1257
Summary Written By: JIM CONLIN
OPENING BILLBOARD
Harry Kramer: The Edddgggee of Night.
ACT ONE
Victor and Teresa are facing each other in the Bridal Suite. With a grim sneer on his face, Victor asks her why she’s dressed like a hotel maid. Teresa says she’ll explain in a moment but first wants to know about that numbskull, Judith, who’s under the impression she’s married to him. Victor tells her she’s in the bedroom writing a long letter to her father. Teresa tells him to make sure she stays there and doesn’t bother them. Victor gives her an annoyed look but crosses to the bedroom door. While his back is to her, Teresa checks to make sure she has the knife in the folds of the towels she’s carrying. Then she notices a large ashtray with the ashes of the burned letter in it. She casually saunters to it to examine the ashes closer and make sure they are the remains of her letter. A letter opener lies near the ashtray. Victor taps on the bedroom door and asks through the door how Judith is doing with the letter. From inside the bedroom she responds that she’s almost finished and then says that she’s going to change before dinner. Victor crosses fast to Teresa and demands to know what she has to give him. Teresa asks him if he wants to make a deal as she sets the towels down beside the letter opener. She tells him she has something that belonged to Jay (Jennings, his brother); something the police could use to nail Victor to the numbers racket. She then says that he has the key to the locker at the airport where he stashed the fortune they made out of the numbers. Would he care to exchange? Victor smiles contemptuously, taking the locker key from his pocket and holding it up tauntingly. He says, “This – in exchange for a piece of incriminating evidence you say you’ve got?” putting the key back in his pocket, “I think not, Terry.” He turns away from her telling her that his “bride” and he leave for South America in the morning, and that money will go with them – for safe-keeping, of course. Teresa starts to get the knife from between the towels when her eye falls on the letter opener. She shoves the knife back in amongst the towels, picks up the letter opener and holds it behind her back.
Victor tells her there isn’t going to be any exchange and Teresa says in a low, venomous tone, “I really didn’t think there would be. I know you too well for that.” Victor has taken a cigarette from a pack lying on the table. He turns to Teresa with the unlit cigarette in his fingers and tells her that she didn’t know what joy there could be in living until she knew him. He turns back to get his lighter and Teresa is grim as she lifts the letter opener in her gloved hand. She brings her arm down with all her might and stabs Victor in the middle of his back! He falls, sprawled behind a divan that blocks his body from the bedroom door. Teresa, moving with calm efficiency, drops the letter opener to the floor near the bedroom door. Then, from between the towels, she takes the envelope she has concealed there. She holds it gingerly in her gloved hand. Surveying the situation, she swiftly crosses and drops the envelope between the door and the divan. Taking the locker key from Victor’s pocket, she crosses to the towels. She spots the ashes of her previous letter in the ashtray and dumps the ashtray in the wastebasket. Picking up the towels, she goes to the door, opens it and gives one last all-encompassing look around the room. She peers out, then exits.
COMMERCIAL
ACT TWO
Scene 2A
Teresa is near the linen closet in the corridor outside the Bridal Suite. She has just come out of the suite, closing the door behind her but leaving it ajar. She starts down the corridor for the closet. Noah Dewey, a waiter, appears at the other end of the corridor, pushing a dinner wagon. For a split second Teresa hesitates – then goes on toward the closet. As Dewey pushes the tray with one hand, he fusses with the lid of a silver chafing dish with the other – the lid just won’t sit right. He passes Teresa without a look, as if she didn’t exist. He reaches the door of the Bridal Suite, and pauses to check everything on the wagon. Flowers properly arranged? Napkins O.K.? Enough cutlery? Bride and groom on the little wedding cake firmly in place? Teresa slips into the linen closet.
Scene 2B
Judith enters the suite from the bedroom. She is in a negligee and is smiling as if expecting Victor to exclaim how pretty she looks. The smile becomes quizzical as she sees the room is empty. She sees the letter opener on the floor, picks it up curiously, and then sees the blood on it. A frightened look on her face, she starts forward and sees the envelope on the floor. She picks it up in an automatic housewifely manner, paying attention only to the letter opener. She calls for Victor and starts for the door, but with a discreet tap, Dewey pushes it open, backing into the room pulling the dinner cart after him. Judith is on one side of the divan, holding the envelope in one hand, the letter opener in the other. From where she stands she cannot see Victor’s body. Dewey, near the door, is on the other side of the divan and can see Victor clearly. Dewey turns from the dinner wagon to the room and is about to apologize for the delay when he sees Victor’s body. He stares at it – petrified! Then his gaze goes to Judith! He stares at the knife in her hand but doesn’t notice the envelope. Horror begins to seep into his face! Judith sees this and frowns in deepening puzzlement. She starts to ask him what’s wrong as he backs toward the door. Suddenly he turns and flees! Judith is confounded. She moves to the other side of the divan to see what it was that obviously shocked the waiter. She sees Victor’s body! She goes numb. In a daze, she drops the envelope, which slides out of sight under the t.v., then the knife. Then she screams!
Scene 2C
In the linen closet Teresa is slipping into her coat. From outside she hears the sound of running footsteps and crosses to the door and peers out. Dewey is racing down the corridor and vanishes around the corner. Another scream from Judith is heard and Teresa looks toward the Bridal Suite, smiling poisonously. She looks at her watch – perfect timing – and walks away down the corridor.
Scene 2D
A frozen Judith stares down in dazed horror at the dead Victor. Slowly, she goes down on one knee staring closer at him. Almost pleadingly she says his name, then suddenly bursts into a sob of terror.
COMMERCIAL
ACT THREE
Moments later in the Bridal Suite, Judith is kneeling beside Victor’s body – stunned! David Wedeck, a house detective, enters the suite followed by Dewey who timidly remains in the doorway. Wedeck tells Judith to get up and stand away but Judith doesn’t move. Judith looks up and numbly says, “He’s . . . dead.” In an accusing way Wedeck says, “Sure looks that way, doesn’t it?” Not seeing the accusation in his eyes, Judith answers numbly, “Yes . . .”
COMMERCIAL
STATION BREAK
ACT FOUR
Wedeck is motioning Judith away from the body. He kneels beside it, carefully examining the tear in the back of the coat and the bloodied fabric. He tells Dewey to call the switchboard and make sure the police are on the way – this is murder! Dewey exits and Wedeck gets to his feet regarding Judith suspiciously. He looks around – spots the letter opener on the floor and bends to examine it. Taking a handkerchief from his pocket he is about to wrap the opener in it – then changes his mind and leaves the opener untouched. He asks Judith why she stabbed him and when she says she didn’t he looks around the room asking her if there’s anyone else there. If she didn’t kill him, who did? Judith says she was in the bedroom when it must have happened. She was writing a letter to her father. Then she came out . . . and the waiter came in. She starts to sway as Wedeck goes to her, supporting her. He sits her down and gets a cup of coffee from the dinner cart. As he hands it to her he asks if they were newlyweds. Judith says yes, and Wedeck asks if they had a quarrel or something. She says no as Dewey reenters with Ed Gibson and Sgt. Finney, a big man who says little, but chews on gum slowly. Wedeck goes to them introducing himself as the Director of Security for the hotel. Ed hasn’t seen Judith yet and nods to Wedeck and asks, “What’s the story?” Wedeck points at Victor’s body and says, “Stabbed. Murdered with that letter opener there on the floor.” Not being able to see the face, Ed asks who the victim is. Wedeck says they need to check on that as he’s registered as “Jones,” but his wife says he’s really Victor Carlsen – of the Carlsen’s. A shocked look forms on Ed’s face as he turns slowly from Wedeck to look in the direction of Judith. She returns his look silently and Ed crosses to the body and examines it. He sees it’s Victor and looks at Judith again. He tells Sgt. Finney to block the floor off – no one leaves or enters through any of the rooms without a thorough check. Dewey exits the room and Wedeck leaves to search the suite. Ed appraises Judith expertly – taking in the wedding ring and negligee. He tells her they’ve spent hours looking for her, but never thought they’d find her in the Bridal Suite of the Royal Towers Hotel – especially under these conditions. Judith looks at him silently, in numb agony. Her eyes stray to Victor’s body and she shudders. Helping her to her feet, Ed tells her they’ll go into another room and she can tell him all about it.
COMMERCIAL
ACT FIVE
About a quarter hour later, Cynthia enters the powder room of the auditorium. The distant sound of an orchestra can be heard. She looks at her watch, wondering if everything is ok. She starts to worry and lights a cigarette, consulting her watch again. Theresa enters and Cynthia acidly tells her she’s four minutes late! Ignoring her remark, Theresa asks her how things went then hands her the car keys and tells her to leave. Cynthia asks her if she got the key to the “locker with the lettuce.” Theresa tells her they’ll discuss it at her place later. She says to come at 11:15 – and be sure to change the dress and re-do her hair. She needs to look as unlike Theresa as possible. Theresa says the police might be at her place and the news of what happened to Victor might be on the eleven o’clock news. Cynthia reacts, saying, “…So I figured it right! You killed him!” Brushing her off, Teresa says that if he were killed, she’d bet the police strongly suspect the daughter of their Chief, William Marceau. Suddenly, something dawns in Cynthia’s mind; she asks Teresa what was in the letter. Teresa replies, “Something that will cook little Miss Muddlehead’s goose – or should she say fry it to a frazzle!” As Cynthia starts to say something Teresa waves her down saying there’s no more time. Cynthia nods and exits as Teresa adjusts her wrap. She makes sure all is in order and saunters out.
COMMERCIAL
ACT SIX
In the bedroom of the bridal suite Judith, stunned, sits in a chair. Ed is standing in front of her as Wedeck stands nearby. Ed tells Judy she needs to pull herself together. He needs to ask her some more questions. Judith tells him she’s told him all she knows -- after they got to the hotel, Victor ordered dinner and she went into the bedroom to write a letter to her father. When she finished the letter she showed it to Victor and he thought it sounded too cold. She went back into the bedroom to rewrite the letter and change her clothes. Ed asks her what she did then and Judith starts to break down. Ed sees she can’t answer any more questions and he pats her shoulder as he walks to the door. He opens it and Dewey enters the room. Ed asks him what he can tell him about all this and Dewey says, “Why … she killed him… she stabbed him to death.” Ed’s grim expression becomes grimmer as Judith looks up at Dewy with stricken eyes. Wedeck smiles faintly and sardonically.
COMMERCIAL
CLOSING BILLBOARD
Harry Kramer: " This is Harry Kramer inviting you to join us each weekday afternoon for THE EEEDDDGGGEE OF NIGHT."
Airdate: January 24, 1961
Episode # 1257
Summary Written By: JIM CONLIN
OPENING BILLBOARD
Harry Kramer: The Edddgggee of Night.
ACT ONE
Victor and Teresa are facing each other in the Bridal Suite. With a grim sneer on his face, Victor asks her why she’s dressed like a hotel maid. Teresa says she’ll explain in a moment but first wants to know about that numbskull, Judith, who’s under the impression she’s married to him. Victor tells her she’s in the bedroom writing a long letter to her father. Teresa tells him to make sure she stays there and doesn’t bother them. Victor gives her an annoyed look but crosses to the bedroom door. While his back is to her, Teresa checks to make sure she has the knife in the folds of the towels she’s carrying. Then she notices a large ashtray with the ashes of the burned letter in it. She casually saunters to it to examine the ashes closer and make sure they are the remains of her letter. A letter opener lies near the ashtray. Victor taps on the bedroom door and asks through the door how Judith is doing with the letter. From inside the bedroom she responds that she’s almost finished and then says that she’s going to change before dinner. Victor crosses fast to Teresa and demands to know what she has to give him. Teresa asks him if he wants to make a deal as she sets the towels down beside the letter opener. She tells him she has something that belonged to Jay (Jennings, his brother); something the police could use to nail Victor to the numbers racket. She then says that he has the key to the locker at the airport where he stashed the fortune they made out of the numbers. Would he care to exchange? Victor smiles contemptuously, taking the locker key from his pocket and holding it up tauntingly. He says, “This – in exchange for a piece of incriminating evidence you say you’ve got?” putting the key back in his pocket, “I think not, Terry.” He turns away from her telling her that his “bride” and he leave for South America in the morning, and that money will go with them – for safe-keeping, of course. Teresa starts to get the knife from between the towels when her eye falls on the letter opener. She shoves the knife back in amongst the towels, picks up the letter opener and holds it behind her back.
Victor tells her there isn’t going to be any exchange and Teresa says in a low, venomous tone, “I really didn’t think there would be. I know you too well for that.” Victor has taken a cigarette from a pack lying on the table. He turns to Teresa with the unlit cigarette in his fingers and tells her that she didn’t know what joy there could be in living until she knew him. He turns back to get his lighter and Teresa is grim as she lifts the letter opener in her gloved hand. She brings her arm down with all her might and stabs Victor in the middle of his back! He falls, sprawled behind a divan that blocks his body from the bedroom door. Teresa, moving with calm efficiency, drops the letter opener to the floor near the bedroom door. Then, from between the towels, she takes the envelope she has concealed there. She holds it gingerly in her gloved hand. Surveying the situation, she swiftly crosses and drops the envelope between the door and the divan. Taking the locker key from Victor’s pocket, she crosses to the towels. She spots the ashes of her previous letter in the ashtray and dumps the ashtray in the wastebasket. Picking up the towels, she goes to the door, opens it and gives one last all-encompassing look around the room. She peers out, then exits.
COMMERCIAL
ACT TWO
Scene 2A
Teresa is near the linen closet in the corridor outside the Bridal Suite. She has just come out of the suite, closing the door behind her but leaving it ajar. She starts down the corridor for the closet. Noah Dewey, a waiter, appears at the other end of the corridor, pushing a dinner wagon. For a split second Teresa hesitates – then goes on toward the closet. As Dewey pushes the tray with one hand, he fusses with the lid of a silver chafing dish with the other – the lid just won’t sit right. He passes Teresa without a look, as if she didn’t exist. He reaches the door of the Bridal Suite, and pauses to check everything on the wagon. Flowers properly arranged? Napkins O.K.? Enough cutlery? Bride and groom on the little wedding cake firmly in place? Teresa slips into the linen closet.
Scene 2B
Judith enters the suite from the bedroom. She is in a negligee and is smiling as if expecting Victor to exclaim how pretty she looks. The smile becomes quizzical as she sees the room is empty. She sees the letter opener on the floor, picks it up curiously, and then sees the blood on it. A frightened look on her face, she starts forward and sees the envelope on the floor. She picks it up in an automatic housewifely manner, paying attention only to the letter opener. She calls for Victor and starts for the door, but with a discreet tap, Dewey pushes it open, backing into the room pulling the dinner cart after him. Judith is on one side of the divan, holding the envelope in one hand, the letter opener in the other. From where she stands she cannot see Victor’s body. Dewey, near the door, is on the other side of the divan and can see Victor clearly. Dewey turns from the dinner wagon to the room and is about to apologize for the delay when he sees Victor’s body. He stares at it – petrified! Then his gaze goes to Judith! He stares at the knife in her hand but doesn’t notice the envelope. Horror begins to seep into his face! Judith sees this and frowns in deepening puzzlement. She starts to ask him what’s wrong as he backs toward the door. Suddenly he turns and flees! Judith is confounded. She moves to the other side of the divan to see what it was that obviously shocked the waiter. She sees Victor’s body! She goes numb. In a daze, she drops the envelope, which slides out of sight under the t.v., then the knife. Then she screams!
Scene 2C
In the linen closet Teresa is slipping into her coat. From outside she hears the sound of running footsteps and crosses to the door and peers out. Dewey is racing down the corridor and vanishes around the corner. Another scream from Judith is heard and Teresa looks toward the Bridal Suite, smiling poisonously. She looks at her watch – perfect timing – and walks away down the corridor.
Scene 2D
A frozen Judith stares down in dazed horror at the dead Victor. Slowly, she goes down on one knee staring closer at him. Almost pleadingly she says his name, then suddenly bursts into a sob of terror.
COMMERCIAL
ACT THREE
Moments later in the Bridal Suite, Judith is kneeling beside Victor’s body – stunned! David Wedeck, a house detective, enters the suite followed by Dewey who timidly remains in the doorway. Wedeck tells Judith to get up and stand away but Judith doesn’t move. Judith looks up and numbly says, “He’s . . . dead.” In an accusing way Wedeck says, “Sure looks that way, doesn’t it?” Not seeing the accusation in his eyes, Judith answers numbly, “Yes . . .”
COMMERCIAL
STATION BREAK
ACT FOUR
Wedeck is motioning Judith away from the body. He kneels beside it, carefully examining the tear in the back of the coat and the bloodied fabric. He tells Dewey to call the switchboard and make sure the police are on the way – this is murder! Dewey exits and Wedeck gets to his feet regarding Judith suspiciously. He looks around – spots the letter opener on the floor and bends to examine it. Taking a handkerchief from his pocket he is about to wrap the opener in it – then changes his mind and leaves the opener untouched. He asks Judith why she stabbed him and when she says she didn’t he looks around the room asking her if there’s anyone else there. If she didn’t kill him, who did? Judith says she was in the bedroom when it must have happened. She was writing a letter to her father. Then she came out . . . and the waiter came in. She starts to sway as Wedeck goes to her, supporting her. He sits her down and gets a cup of coffee from the dinner cart. As he hands it to her he asks if they were newlyweds. Judith says yes, and Wedeck asks if they had a quarrel or something. She says no as Dewey reenters with Ed Gibson and Sgt. Finney, a big man who says little, but chews on gum slowly. Wedeck goes to them introducing himself as the Director of Security for the hotel. Ed hasn’t seen Judith yet and nods to Wedeck and asks, “What’s the story?” Wedeck points at Victor’s body and says, “Stabbed. Murdered with that letter opener there on the floor.” Not being able to see the face, Ed asks who the victim is. Wedeck says they need to check on that as he’s registered as “Jones,” but his wife says he’s really Victor Carlsen – of the Carlsen’s. A shocked look forms on Ed’s face as he turns slowly from Wedeck to look in the direction of Judith. She returns his look silently and Ed crosses to the body and examines it. He sees it’s Victor and looks at Judith again. He tells Sgt. Finney to block the floor off – no one leaves or enters through any of the rooms without a thorough check. Dewey exits the room and Wedeck leaves to search the suite. Ed appraises Judith expertly – taking in the wedding ring and negligee. He tells her they’ve spent hours looking for her, but never thought they’d find her in the Bridal Suite of the Royal Towers Hotel – especially under these conditions. Judith looks at him silently, in numb agony. Her eyes stray to Victor’s body and she shudders. Helping her to her feet, Ed tells her they’ll go into another room and she can tell him all about it.
COMMERCIAL
ACT FIVE
About a quarter hour later, Cynthia enters the powder room of the auditorium. The distant sound of an orchestra can be heard. She looks at her watch, wondering if everything is ok. She starts to worry and lights a cigarette, consulting her watch again. Theresa enters and Cynthia acidly tells her she’s four minutes late! Ignoring her remark, Theresa asks her how things went then hands her the car keys and tells her to leave. Cynthia asks her if she got the key to the “locker with the lettuce.” Theresa tells her they’ll discuss it at her place later. She says to come at 11:15 – and be sure to change the dress and re-do her hair. She needs to look as unlike Theresa as possible. Theresa says the police might be at her place and the news of what happened to Victor might be on the eleven o’clock news. Cynthia reacts, saying, “…So I figured it right! You killed him!” Brushing her off, Teresa says that if he were killed, she’d bet the police strongly suspect the daughter of their Chief, William Marceau. Suddenly, something dawns in Cynthia’s mind; she asks Teresa what was in the letter. Teresa replies, “Something that will cook little Miss Muddlehead’s goose – or should she say fry it to a frazzle!” As Cynthia starts to say something Teresa waves her down saying there’s no more time. Cynthia nods and exits as Teresa adjusts her wrap. She makes sure all is in order and saunters out.
COMMERCIAL
ACT SIX
In the bedroom of the bridal suite Judith, stunned, sits in a chair. Ed is standing in front of her as Wedeck stands nearby. Ed tells Judy she needs to pull herself together. He needs to ask her some more questions. Judith tells him she’s told him all she knows -- after they got to the hotel, Victor ordered dinner and she went into the bedroom to write a letter to her father. When she finished the letter she showed it to Victor and he thought it sounded too cold. She went back into the bedroom to rewrite the letter and change her clothes. Ed asks her what she did then and Judith starts to break down. Ed sees she can’t answer any more questions and he pats her shoulder as he walks to the door. He opens it and Dewey enters the room. Ed asks him what he can tell him about all this and Dewey says, “Why … she killed him… she stabbed him to death.” Ed’s grim expression becomes grimmer as Judith looks up at Dewy with stricken eyes. Wedeck smiles faintly and sardonically.
COMMERCIAL
CLOSING BILLBOARD
Harry Kramer: " This is Harry Kramer inviting you to join us each weekday afternoon for THE EEEDDDGGGEE OF NIGHT."