DOC SAVAGE Program Number Thirteen "The Blue Angel" CAST DOC SAVAGE...........Deep, cultured, impressive voice, outstanding. MONK.................Small, shrill voice, pleasantly tough guy. MABEL................Deep, pleasant, businesslike voice. MARCH................Young voice, robust. (MAY BE DOUBLED) HALL.................Pleasant, middle-aged voice. (MAY BE DOUBLED) WILLIE...............Whining tough guy voice. DRIVER...............Harsh tough guy voice. PORTER...............Colored man's southern drawl. BIZ: l--Trilling sound. 2--Phonographic transcript of city traffic to run some time. 3--Car horn. 4--Auto motor. 5--Police whistle. 6--Car door slam. 7--Crash. 8--Crowd sound. 9--Running feet. 10--Train whistle. 11--Phonographic transcript of train to run some time. 12--Train door slam. 13--Rattle of door knob. 14--Blows. 15--Window opening. 16--Struggle. Playing Time: 14 minutes. Script by: Lester Dent (Kenneth Robeson) EFFECT: (TRILLING SOUND) ANNOUNCER: Hear that? EFFECT: (TRILLING SOUND) ANNOUNCER: That was a strange sound, wasn't it? It is the sound of Doc Savage, and it means that Cystex is on the air with an other fifteen minutes of smashing action and mystery with Doc Savage... Doc Savage is a man who goes out and does things, and does not fool around about it. We all like that kind of person. We all like to see things done, and that is why so many people like Cystex. (PLUG) And now we give you the street of a midwestern city. It is night, and something sinister seems to be going on. BIZ: (CITY TRAFFIC SOUNDS--CARS, AUTO HORNS, NEWSBOYS) (MOTOR HORN NEAR MIKE GIVES SIGNAL BLASTS OF LONG, SHORT, SHORT, LONG. SIGNAL IS REPEATED) TAXI DRIVER: Hey, boss! Over here! Hey, Willie! WILLIE: Pipe down, you dumb taxi driver! DRIVER: Aw, lay off! I didn't think you heard my signal, Willie. WILLIE: I heard it, all right. Drive around the corner and pick a spot where we can talk. BIZ: (CAR MOTOR, HOLD FOR A MOMENT, THEN CUT) DRIVER: NobodyÕll overhear us now. Shoot the works, Willie. WILLIE: Listen, if I was to tell you to pick up a certain guy who came out of a hotel, could you do it? DRIVER: Sure. WILLIE: How would you manage it? DRIVER: I'd tip the hotel doorman a finif to steer the guy into my hack. WILLIE: That's swell. You ain't so dumb after all. DRIVER: You want me to pick a guy up with my cab, boss? WILLIE: You get the idea. DRIVER: Then what? WILLIE: You drive him around. DRIVER: And then what? WILLIE: That's all. You just drive him around. DRIVER: I don't get this, Willie. WILLIE: You don't need to get it, you dumb mug. There'll be another bird with the guy you're to pick up. They'll tell you to drive them to the railroad station. But you don't do that, see. You drive around. Whatever you do, don't take Ôem to the station. DRIVER: Maybe you want these two guys to miss a train? WILLIE: Maybe. DRIVER: What's their names? WILLIE: Aw, don't ask so many questions. DRIVER: I gotta know their names before I can tip the doorman to steer Ôem into my cab. WILLIE: Yeah. Guess ya have, at that. Well, one is Doc Savage and the other is his assistant, Monk. DRIVER: (AMAZED) Listen, who did you say? WILLIE: Doc Savage and his assistant, Monk. DRIVER: Count me out of this, Willie! WILLIE: Ya ignorant cluck! What's a-matter? Got cold feet? DRIVER: I ain't messinÕ around with Doc Savage. That guy is poison to hustlers like you and me, Willie. I've read about him, in the newspapers. He goes all over the world helpinÕ other people out of their little jams, and he ain't nothinÕ for nobody to monkey with. Count me out! Count me out plenty! WILLIE: Listen, there's fifty bucks in it for you. DRIVER: Nix, Willie. Nothing doing. WILLIE: I'll make it a hundred. All you gotta do is drive them around town instead of to the depot. You don't run any risk. Tell Ôem you got lost. A hundred bucks, feller! DRIVER: (SLOWLY) A century note... I could tell Ôem I got lost, at that... I'd sound reasonable... Okay, Willie. I'll do it. Gimme that century. BIZ: (CITY TRAFFIC SOUNDS COME IN LOUD, THEN DECREASE SLIGHTLY AND HOLD UNTIL CUE) DOC: We have about ten minutes to get to the railway station, Monk. MONK: That's right, Doc. We'd better hurry. Doorman! A taxi for Doc Savage. BIZ: (DOORMAN'S OR POLICE WHISTLE) (AUTO MOTOR COMES IN CLOSE TO MIKE AND CUT) (CAR DOOR SLAM) DOC: To the Union Station, driver. Step on it! DRIVER: Okay, boss. Are you Doc Savage? DOC: Yes. Why? DRIVER: I thought I recognized you. BIZ: (AUTO MOTOR AND HOLD UNTIL CUE TO CUT) (TRAFFIC SOUNDS DECREASED) (AUTO HORN BLARES OCCASIONALLY) MONK: Why all the rush, Doc? DOC: We must be on a train that leaves in ten minutes. MONK: It's important, eh? DOC: Very important, Monk. MONK: Has that telephone call you got an hour ago got anything to do with it? DOC: Yes, everything. That call-- Wait! Driver! (SHOUTS) Driver, you are not taking us to the station! DRIVER: Sure I am! DOC: I happen to know you are going the wrong way! DRIVER: Aw, yer crazy! BIZ: (AUTO ENGINE LOUDER) MONK: He's steppin' on the gas, Doc! DOC: Driver! Slow down! MONK: He's goin' faster! DOC: I'll try to jerk on his emergency brake. BIZ: (BLOWS) (GRUNTS) (SQUEAL OF BRAKES) (CUT AUTO ENGINE) MONK: Well, you stopped us, Doc. DOC: Yes, but the driver jumped out. MONK: There he goes! Let's get him! DOC: He's running across the street. Hey, fellow! Look out for those cars! Look out! BIZ: (AUTO HORNS) (CRASH) (SOUND OF CROWD AND HOLD UNTIL CUE) MONK: A car hit the taxi driver! DOC: Let's have a look at him. (PAUSE) He's only knocked senseless. Wait! His legs are broken, too! MONK: Unconscious, eh? He musta got quite a lick. DOC: He did. Both legs are fractured. It will be some little time before he can leave the hospital. But what is more important, it will be at least an hour before he can talk. Come on, Monk. MONK: Where you goin'? DOC: That taxi driver was obviously trying to keep us from catching our train, Monk, and that makes me very anxious to be on the train. Come on. BIZ: (AUTO MOTOR LOUD, THEN DECREASE AND CUT) (PAUSE) (TRAIN WHISTLE) PORTER: All aboard! All aboard! Board! DOC: That's our train, Monk. Step on it. BIZ: (RUNNING FEET) (TRAIN WHISTLE) (PHONOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPT OF TRAIN STARTING AND RUNNING. DECREASE TRAIN SOUND AND HOLD UNTIL CUE TO CUT) (DOOR SLAM) MONK: Well, we just made it! DOC: Yes. That taxi driver nearly did his job after all. Come along, Monk. Our destination is Drawing Room "J" in car ninety-five. MONK: How'd you get that dope, Doc? DOC: The telephone call to our hotel an hour ago, Monk. MONK: Listen, Doc, am I in on this or not? DOC: Meaning that you want to know what it is all about? It is about time I told you, at that. MONK: Shoot, Doc. DOC: We are on this train to guard a very valuable diamond known as the Blue Angel. The Blue Angel is being sent to New York under the guard of three detectives. We are to help the three detectives watch the stone. MONK: Well, daggone me! DOC: Why the surprise, Monk? MONK: I dunno. It just struck me. You don't usually make a business of guarding other people's jewels. In fact, I can't ever remember us having done a thing like this before. We generally go around getting other people out of their jams. DOC: I know. But this is a special case. You see, the Blue Angel has been donated to charity by its owner. The gem is to be taken to New York and sold, and the proceeds turned over to charity. That is why we are aboard this train, Monk. MONK: That makes it different. What's the Blue Angel worth, Doc? DOC: An unbelievable sum, possibly a million. It's one of the most perfect large stones in the world... Porter! Porter! PORTER: Yassuh. DOC: Show us Drawing Room "J" in Car ninety-five, please. PORTER: Yassuh. Come this way, suh. BIZ: (DOOR SLAM AND TRAIN NOISE LOUDER) (DOOR SLAM AND TRAIN NOISE DECREASED) MONK: Boy, this train is making time! EFFECT: (PAUSE) PORTER: This heah am de drawin' room yo' all asked foah, suh. DOC: Thank you, porter. Here, this for your trouble. PORTER: Yassuh. Thank you, suh! BIZ: (RATTLE OF KNOB) DOC: Porter! This door is locked! Locked on the inside. BIZ: (BLOWS) DOC: Hello, in there! (PAUSE) No one answers. MONK: Something is wrong, Doc. DOC: Yes, so it seems. I expected trouble after that taxi driver tried to make us miss the train. But I did not expect it as soon... Well, I'm going to break down the door. PORTER: De railroad company won't like dat, boss. DOC: It is the Blue Angel we are worried about and not the rail road company. BIZ: (LOUD CRASH) PORTER: Boss, yoÕ sho' am strong to bus' through dat door so easy! DOC: Back, back! Get back! MONK: What is it, Doc? DOC: The drawing room is full of gas! (COUGHS) I'll open the window. BIZ: (NOISE OF WINDOW OPENING) EFFECT: (PAUSE DURING WHICH OCCASIONAL COUGHS HEARD) MONK: What kind... (COUGHS)... of gas was it? DOC: Seemed to be something similar to carbon monoxide. We can go into the drawing room now, I believe. The gas will have been blown out through the window. BIZ: (FOOTSTEPS OVER MUFFLED TRAIN NOISE) MONK: Three people in there... a woman and two men. DOC: The three detectives, is my guess. MONK: They dead? DOC: No. Only unconscious. Porter! Bring me a towel soaked in ice water. PORTER: Lawsy me! Yassuh! (PAUSE) Heah you is, suh. DOC: Thanks, porter. (PAUSE) Hm-m-m. The woman is awakening. MONK: Women are tougher than men, I've always heard. MABEL: (DAZED) Oh, oh, what happened? DOC: Who are you? MABEL: Mabel James of the Middle States Detective Agency. What happened? We felt drowsy... and then... Oh! Oh! It was gas! The Blue Angel! Is it gone? DOC: Calm yourself, Miss James. MABEL: The Blue Angel... Oh, if somebody stole that diamond... I've got to look. (PAUSE) It was in this case. (PAUSE) Oh! What a relief! They didn't get it! MONK: You still have the diamond? MABEL: Look! MONK: Whew! Some sparkler! MABEL: You must have scared them away before they could break in! DOC: Porter, where are you going? PORTER: To get de conductah, suh. DOC: Never mind. Give me another towel soaked in ice water. PORTER: Yassuh. DOC: We'll revive these other two detectives. BIZ: (TRAIN NOISE COMES IN LOUD THEN DECREASE) MONK: They're coming out of it, Doc. DOC: Yes. They did not get much of a dose of the gas. MARCH: What... ow-w-w-w! My head! What happened? MABEL: Somebody put gas in the drawing room, March. MARCH: Good night! Did they get the rock? MABEL: No. Mr. Savage must have frightened them away. MARCH: So this is Doc Savage, eh? Pleased to meet you, Savage. My name is March, of the Middle States Detective Agency. This bird just waking up here, is Hall, also with the Agency. HALL: I've heard a lot of you, Savage, and I'm sure glad to see you. DOC: Thank you, Hall. HALL: Anything you want us to do, or think we'd better do? DOC: Yes, Hall. You and March both go through the train and see if you can find any suspicious persons among the passengers. It is possible the person or persons who used that gas are still aboard. HALL: You want us to look for guys who might be crooks, eh? DOC: Yes. HALL: Boy, and how we'll look. BIZ: (TRAIN NOISE LOUD, DECREASE SIMULTANEOUS WITH DOOR SLAM) MABEL: Hall and March will find any crooks on the train. They're good. They know every jewel thief in the middle west. Say, I wonder how the gas was put into this drawing room? DOC: Introduced through the crack at the bottom of the door, possibly. MONK: But what about the gas containers, or whatever they carried the stuff in? DOC: Probably threw them from a window after they used them... (PAUSE) Hm-m-m! What is this? MONK: What'd you find, Doc? DOC: A pencil lying on the corridor floor just outside the drawing room door. MONK: It might have been dropped by the person who used the gas! DOC: Possibly Let's examine it for fingerprints. Have you my small kit, Monk? MONK: Here it is. EFFECT: (PAUSE) DOC: No fingerprints. MONK: Aw, then it won't help us. DOC: On the contrary, it may help us a great deal. MONK: How dÕyou figure that? DOC: Observe the pencil closely, Monk. It is of the mechanical type, and the barrel is of some nickelplated composition or alloy. MONK: I see. DOC: Now notice the top of the pencil. MONK: Yeah. It's full of dents. The guy who used this must have had a habit of chewin' the end of his pencils. DOC: Exactly. Now, look in the bottoms of those little dents made by the man's teeth. Here, take this magnifying glass. MONK: Looks like some kind of yellow metal smeared in there. DOC: Which means what, Monk? MONK: You've got me, Doc. DOC: The man who chewed the pencil had gold teeth. The gold was fairly soft and microscopic particles were scraped off by the harder metal of that pencil. MONK: Well, daggone me! Gold front teeth, eh? MABEL: If we do catch the fellows who used that gas, what can we do to them? They didn't steal the Blue Angel. DOC: But they did! MABEL: What? DOC: The diamond you have is an imitation. Just a good quality of glass. MABEL: (SLOWLY) Then they got the Blue Angel and substituted his fake so we would not catch on. BIZ: (TRAIN SOUND LOUD THEN DECREASE) MONK: Here come the two detectives, Hall and March. They've got somebody. BIZ: (FOOTSTEPS) WILLIE: Lemme go, ya big bums! You ain't got nothin' on me! DOC: Who is this man? MARCH: He's Willie the Weep, a hustler who makes his dough in the jewel stealin' racket. WILLIE: Aw, yer nuts! I'll sue yer fer slander! MARCH: Pipe down you, or I'll push your teeth outa the back of your head! DOC: Has this Willie the Weep got gold teeth... even one gold tooth will do? MONK: Yeah. Open your mouth, Willie. WILLIE: Aw, yer homely gorilla, I ain't openin' me mouth-- MONK: (YELLS) Open that trap, you! BIZ: (STRUGGLE) WILLIE: (STRANGLED) Leggo my face! MONK: It's no use, Doc. He hasn't a gold tooth in his head. DOC: Where you going, porter? PORTER: I'se gwine git de conductah, suh. DOC: Why? PORTER: De conductah will want tuh know Ôbout dis mess, suh. DOC: Very well. Go get him. PORTER: Yassuh. (AWAY FROM MIKE) Yassuh. I'se gwine fer de conductah. EFFECT: (PAUSE) DOC: Come on! Don't make any noise! MONK: Hey, Doc, what-- DOC: We're going to follow that porter. But don't let him see you. EFFECT: (PAUSE) MONK: Say, he isn't going for the conductor. He's ducking into that little cubbyhole where he keeps his stuff. DOC: Wait here a moment. (PAUSE) Now, grab him! BIZ: (RAPID FOOTSTEPS, BLOWS, GRUNTS) DOC: Grab that pair of pliers, Monk! MONK: I've got them! PORTER: What you all mean, white man-- MONK: Shut up! (PAUSE) Doc, what on earth was he going to do with these pincers? DOC: Going to pull out the gold tooth he has in front, probably. MONK: He has a gold tooth! Well, I'll--he sure enough has! I hadn't noticed that. DOC: He kept his mouth shut after we found that pencil. That's what first caught my eye. Hm-m-m. Pull up his sleeve, Monk. PORTER: Now you all-- MONK: Pipe down! Get that sleeve up! Hey, Doc! He's not colored! He's a white man! Look, he's got a curly wig on, too! MABEL: Why, that porter is Snicker Warren, the partner of Willie the Weep, here. DOC: Let's look in his cubbyhole here for the Blue Angel. BIZ: (CLATTER OF DUFFLE MOVED ABOUT) MONK: There it is, Doc! DOC: Yes. (PAUSE) This is the genuine stone, all right. MONK: (LAUGHS) Haw, hew, hew! DOC: Why the laugh, Monk? MONK: Look at Snicker and Willie! They seem to be ready to cry. WILLIE: (DISGUSTED) Aw, in your hat, you big monkey. MABEL: If they're not crying now, they may before the law gets through with them. EFFECT: (PAUSE) EFFECT: (TRILLING WHISTLE) ANNOUNCER: Doc Savage's sound, ladies and gentlemen, marking the satisfactory conclusion of another episode from the adventurous life of this man of bronze. And now we have time for a word about Cystex. (PLUG) These copyrighted dramatic offerings are presented to you by Cystex with the permission of Street & Smith, copyright owners of Doc Savage Magazine.