The Shadow: The Creeper 05/29/1938

Welcome to Choice Classic Radio, where we bring to you the greatest old-time radio shows. Like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube, and thank you for donating at choiceclassicradio.com. The Shadow Nose. The Shadow Nose. Ladies and gentlemen, the Shadow's latest adventure starts in just a moment. Right now I want to tell you about a new kind of tire that will stop you quicker, safer on wet, slippery roads than you've ever stopped before. It's the new Goodrich Safety Silver Town with the amazing lifesaver tread that actually drives wet roads. Impartial tests made by the Independent Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory proved this fact beyond dispute. Not one of the regular or premium price tires of America's six largest tire manufacturers came up to the new Goodrich Silver Town in resistance to skid. These exhaustive tests also proved that the new Silver Town averaged 19.1% more non-skid mileage than any other tire tested in its own price range, which means you get every sixth mile free. Equip your car with Goodrich Safety Silver Town. Then you'll know what it means to be saved by a Silver Town stock. The Shadow, Lamont Cranston, a man of wealth, a student of science, and a master of other people's minds, devotes his life to righting wrongs, protecting the innocent, and punishing the guilty. Using advanced methods that may ultimately become available to all law enforcement agencies, Cranston is known to the underworld as the Shadow. Never seen, only heard, as haunting to superstitious minds as a ghost, as inevitable as a guilty conscience. The Shadow's true identity is known only to his constant friend and aide, Margo Lane. Today's story, The Creeper. The Creeper Mother, is that you? Is the storm frightening you? Mother! Be quiet. I won't hurt you. I'm just going to take you away. Away where nobody will ever find you. Nobody will ever find you. And you won't be lonely. There are other fine young ladies like yourself where I'm taking you. They were rich and beautiful too. One! One! Yes, one! Yes, Margo, what do you want? Laman, forgive me for making you rush over here to my apartment this time in the morning. I just learned that something's happened to one of my dearest friends, Edith Day. Edith Day? I remember her, Margo. She came out two seasons ago. Isn't she that beautiful little dark-haired girl I met at the Alamdus? Yes, that's the one, Laman. Her mother just phoned me. She's frantic, terrifying. Now, Margo, supposing you can pose yourself and tell me exactly what's wrong. This is Margo Lane. My assistant in criminal investigation would do it. It was someone who meant nothing to you. But this is such a shock, Laman. Edith's missing. Missing? Yes, she disappeared from her bedroom last night. There were signs of a struggle. Where's the house located? In the Macare district. Five blocks sectional of those recent robberies have occurred? Yes, and two murders and five other disappearances. That's right, but the paper said every block is a private garden. The finest burglar alarms have been stolen all the houses. But, Laman, terrible people are just disappearing. It is in air without a trace. Without any clue as to what's happened to them. Something awful must have happened to Edith. No ransom notes? No, nothing. Police are there, of course. Oh, yes. Swarming all over the house. Commissioner Weston himself is conducting the inquiry. Mrs. Day asked me to come over here and stay with her, but I want to talk to you first. Oh, poor Edith. The police must have searched the house, I suppose. Yes, from top to bottom. You might have been carried across the rooftop. No. The door to the roof was bolted and locked on the inside. It's equipped with a burglar alarm, too. Hmm, hmm. Go ahead and console Mrs. Day, Margo. I was hoping you'd come with me. Not at the moment, Margo. But it's a case for you as a shadow. Yes, Margo. The shadow will take a hand in this game of violence and death. Mrs. Day, are you absolutely certain your daughter did not leave the house after midnight? Yes. Yes, Commissioner Weston. You asked me that before. Yes, I know. I'm sorry. Come in. Callahan, the watchman, sir, Commissioner. Have him come in. Morning, Commissioner. Callahan, your report shows you tried all the doors of this house every hour on the hour last night. That's right. They were okay. They were all locked. And nobody could have opened the door or a window in this house without setting off the burglar alarm in your agency's central office? Yes, that's right, sir. Then Mrs. Day must still be in this house. Sergeant. Yes, sir? Have your men made a complete search all through the house? Oh, yes, Commissioner, from top to bottom. But ain't the place we haven't looked where our butthole. I mean, where Mrs. Day might be. My poor baby. Oh, he just, he just... Hello? Hello. Century moving company. This is Mrs. Claremont. I'm moving out of the Mesa district. Yes, I want a band today. Yes, I'm moving to a hotel. I won't spend another night in this section. I'm sorry, Mrs. Trenford, I'm giving notice. I've been your butler for 10 years, but after the things that have happened with the police, they're still alive. Jake, about that Mesa crime wave story, make it hot. Pour it into Commissioner Weston. Miss the unsolved crimes, two known dead, six persons missing without a trace. demand action. Results, smear it all over the front page, go to town on it. Oh, there you are, Margot. LeMont, what on earth are you doing here in the public library? I'm discovering things about this fair city of ours that I've never knew before, Margot. I don't understand, LeMont. I'm trying to find Edith Day, Margot. It may seem a very roundabout way, but the police and the private detective agencies have proven a futility of direct methods. Then you have discovered something. Oh, LeMont, what is it? Why did you come here to the public library? Because I wanted to look up some old maps and records of the city. But why? What could that possibly have to do with Edith's disappearance? I'm not sure, Margot, but it may have everything to do with it. I'm sure you're something that may surprise you. LeMont, what are you driving at? That's just an old map. Exactly, Margot, an engineering map, a plan of the proposed water conduct. Surveied and laid out in the year 1896. But LeMont... Wait, Margot, I'll explain. This plan calls for a 12-foot water main from the West Park Reservoir to the Central District. A distance of a mile and a half. Margot, one mile of that water conduct was built. Then the Spanish-American war came along and the project was abandoned. It was sealed up. It's all here in the old city records. In some way, the whole project became lost in the tangles of official red tape and forgotten. What are you driving at? I still can't see what this has to do with it. I'll show you in just a minute. Yeah. Here's a rough sketch of the Mayfair district, Margot, on tissue paper. That marked the location of every house in that district where a murder, robbery, or abduction has taken place in the last two months. Here. Place it over this old map. Now, look. See what happens? Oh, well, LeMont, every one of those houses is located directly over that old abandoned water main. Yes, Margot, and unless I'm badly mistaken, that is the answer to the disappearance of Edith Day. And it'll lead us to the solution of this crime-wave in the Mayfair district. LeMont, that water main must be way down underground. The police searched the basements of those houses that have to be an entrance big enough for a man to get through. I believe there is, Margot. It's the only possible answer. In every one of these crimes, the story's been the same. No one was seen going into the houses. No one was seen going out. The burglar alarms were intact, yet people vanished. LeMont, only you're right. If there's still some chance Edith and those other poor people are still alive down there in that abandoned hole in the earth. But who could do a thing like that, and why would they do it? It must be the work of a monster, Margot. I checked up on the things that were stolen, the other crimes. Richly upholstered furniture, tapestries, paintings, never any money or jewelry. Things you would ordinarily expect a thief to take. Good heavens, LeMont. You think someone's taken those things down into that black hole? Yes, and he's taken something else that is doubly significant. Food. Store rooms have been stripped. Case after case of canned goods has been carried away, Margot. Food enough for a dozen people. But more than anything else convinces me that the people who have vanished are still alive. Somewhere down there in a labyrinth of tunnels carved out of solid rock. Oh, LeMont, if only you're right. There's only some way we can get down there. I believe there is. I believe there is a way. A way the shadow can get down there with your help. I'll do anything. Anything you know that, LeMont. Margot, I want you to go straight from here to Mrs. Daze. I want you to stay there tonight. But what about you? Where will you be? Can't I do something to help? Later, Margot, but don't worry. You walk through the door of the day mansion. The shadow will be with you. But I'm sure that somewhere, the wall, the floor, the basement of that house, will yield the answer to this ghastly riddle. Mary! Mary! I've heard something down there in the cellar. A sort of tapping sound. Oh, don't go down there, Henry. Don't do it, I tell you. Henry, this house has given me the gates. I won't work here another day. I'm given notice to Mrs. Daze in the morning. She'll have to get another maid. You're right. I don't hear nothing now. Maybe you'll just imagine things after what happened last night. I'm a butler, not a detective. Mrs. Daze insists on staying in this house. I'm leaving her service too. Oh, shut the door, Henry. I can't stand the looks of that dog cellar. He can't take the disease. Yes, yes. You have good reason to be afraid to stay in this house, unless I find what I'm looking for. This big stone slab has a hollow ring. This is it. This is the answer. Oh, Margot, you don't know how much it means to me to have you stay here. All my friends want me to leave this house, but I can't. I can't. And the servants, they're afraid. I'm sure they'll leave tomorrow. I'm glad I could be with you, Mrs. Daze. But now, don't think any more about it, please. Try to get some rest. You're exhausted. Well, I'll try, Margot, but I'm afraid I can't rest. All I can do is think. We'll think of what's happened and what may be happening to Edith. Oh, my poor darling. Oh, so awful, Margot. Not to know. What's happening today? Oh, the house phone in the hall, Margot. Would you answer? Yes, yes. I'll answer it right away. Try to get some rest, Mrs. Daze. Hello? Hello. Margot. Yes, Amon? You come down to the basement immediately. Try to get here without being seen. The servants have gone to bed. Hurry. Hurry, Margot. Amon. Amon, it's Margot. Where are you? Right here, Margot. Be quiet as you can. I'll turn on my flashlight. What have you found? I'm over here a minute. Look, don't slam. Then you were right, Mrs. Daze. This is how Edith was carried away down through that hole. But how in the world did you get the slab up? Quite a while. I found an iron bar. Be careful. Don't get too close to that hole, Margot. There's no telling how deep it is. Amon, now, now, what are we going to do? Haven't we better notify the police? No, Margot. Call in the police now. I might mean the death of every one of these victims if they're still alive. But suppose whoever's doing this heard you tapping down here, heard you lifting the stone. Suppose he's waiting for you down there in the dark somewhere. I've got to risk that. How will you get down? There's no ladder. There's a heavy clothesline in the laundry room. The other end of the cell I know is the one I was examining. The walls in there. I'll get it. All right, but I wish you'd let go. Oh! Oh, my God! Ladies and gentlemen, before the Shadow's exciting adventure continues, I have a word about auto-trip. Because there are so many motorists who risk life and limb without knowing it. Yes, the Shadow knows. Many a motorist rushes through the rain, puts himself in real danger of skidding, spinning, swerving on wet roads, can't stop quick, can't stop short, can't control his car. And many a motorist faces a death-dealing, accident-dealing blowout. Why should you risk your life through skid or blowout when today, without paying a cent extra, you can get life-saving protection against both of these hazards? Yes, motorists, a new kind of tire. The new Goodrich safety Silvertown with its life-saver tread grits dry roads, dries wet roads. Overcomes the hazard zone of motoring, where a slippery film of water on the road may make complete control of your car almost impossible. This means that you stop quicker, safer than you've ever stopped before. And the exclusive Golden Ply gives you real protection against dangerous high-speed blowouts. The new Goodrich Silvertown is the safest thing on wheels. It's here to save your life. Yes, save your life at no extra cost. Don't forget, your car and everyone in it will be safer if you ride on Goodrich Safety Silvertown. Did you hear that? Yes. Yes, and you know what it means? The creeper is bringing you another victim to keep his company in this living room. There was only something we could do. We could only get these chains or... Oh, that's no use. We're helpless. Dr. Conrad, do you think there's any chance? Any hope? We mustn't give up hope this day. Sooner or later, the police will craft the creeper. Find the tunnel. The police. Listen, all of you. Some of you have been here a day, a week, two weeks. I've been here two months. Nothing but that creeper and rats for company. Shamed like an animal hamster. I thought the police would find me. I had hoped too, but now I know. We'll die here. We'll never get out. Never. Never. Never again. The police will hear it. He'll come and use that weapon again. I can't stand anymore. I will. Whatever it is that they... Sooner or later, the creeper will kill us all. We'll never see the light of day again. Never. Never see the light of day again. Oh, why did you hit him? He didn't know what he was saying. I had to. He's unconscious now, and it's better that way. Can't stand much more. Heaven help us if someone doesn't get us out of here soon. Now, so you find out how I catch all the fine, beautiful ladies and bring them down here. Wait. You don't have to put those chains on me. I won't try to get away. Nobody gets away. Nobody ever gets away. Nobody knows about this old tunnel. I found it long ago. How long have you lived down here? Who are you? Why have you crawled up into people's homes and dragged them down here? What have you done with them? You have no idea. Only one. And because he wouldn't talk to me, always kept trying to get away. I killed him so he wouldn't run away. But then there was no one to talk to. I got lonely. That was long, long ago. But the others, and Anita's day, the girl you carried away last night, were they? Oh, you'll see them real soon. It's not far. I'll see you in a minute. Real soon. It's not far from here, down the tunnel. A great wide place in the tunnel. It's like a big room. You, you shall see. Wait. Let me rest here a minute more. Then I'll go with you. No, no, no, no, you don't. You, you come now. Quickly. Don't, don't go with me. Let me tell you something. How do you know someone else won't find your hiding place just as I did? Hadn't you better go up and sharp and lower that stone ladder? No, no, no, no. You come now. You try to trick me. I'll come back and fix that when I change you up with the rest of them. Maybe too late. Someone knows I'm here. He was in the basement when you pulled me down here. Well, let him come. I'm not afraid of any man. All men are afraid of me. I make them afraid. I make them my slaves. They call me the creeper. Creeper. So, you were the creeper, and all men fear you. What was that? What was that? I heard laughter. A voice. Yes, the laughter and voice of the shadow. But there's no one here. I see no one, and yet I... Someone is here. Someone you can't see. Someone who's not afraid of you. You're hearing the shadow. Shadow. But shadows do not laugh. They do not speak. Oh, no. For years I have lived among shadows in the darkness. Your crimes have found you out, creeper. The voice of a man. Why can't I see him? There's no place he can hide, not here. I am here, close to you, creeper. Even by the yellow light of your lantern, you cannot see me. Because I have the power to cast a shadow across your mind. A veil across your eyes. No! No! It's like a dream. Like the dreams I used to have when I lived down here alone. I used to pretend. I used to talk to people. Pretend I talk to me. No, creeper. Those others who spoke to you were fantastic creatures of your imagination. I am here. Watch, I'll prove it to you. See? I was close enough to snatch that chain from your hand, throw it away. And now... Now you are going to lead me to your other victims. Margot, get back. Get away from me. No, no! You keep away from me. Keep away or I'll kill you. Is that the gun you used to kill Haggadith, a night watchman, creeper? Yes! Yes! He almost caught me. Yes! Yes, I killed him. I killed him! And I killed you. Why don't you try? Why don't you shoot, creeper? I can only see you. I... No, no, no. No, that doesn't matter. There's a better way. I can see the girl. Keep away from me, Shadow. You keep away or I'll shoot her. You'll never have the chance. Yes! That's all me. You never take me. Never! Devil! I told you. I told you I'd give her. I told you, Shadow! Come on. Come on. Margot. Margot. What a fool I was to expose you to this. Did... Did it get away? No. I knocked him out, but not quite soon enough. Did he shoot you? Nothing, Margot. Nothing. Well, it hit my shoulder. Only a flesh wound. I'll be all right. I need to stay in the others the month. Get them out of here. No, Margot. That can wait. I've got to stop this flow of blood. I'm all right. Let me get up. No, no. Don't try to get up. Hold still. Don't I get this handkerchief? Steady, Margot. That's as tight as tight as we can do. I'll get you to the doctor there. I've got to find some way of getting you back up that shaft. No, please, LeMond. There's only a flesh wound, I tell you. The bleeding's almost stopped. I'll be all right. Just leave me here and go help the others. LeMond! What? The creeper. The lantern's still there. Yes. He's gone. You said... Good. I thought I'd knocked him out. You've got to go after him. Now that he knows someone found his hiding place, he'll kill all the people he's got down here. You're afraid you're right, Margot. I hate to leave you here like this. Margot, please. I'm all right. I'll try to find a way to get up the shaft to notify the police. All right, Margot. You think you can? There's a ladder, but be careful. It's old and rotten and some of the rungs are gone. I'll get out. I'll get help, but it may be too late unless you can find the creeper and stop him from murdering those poor people. He's dragged down into this awful place. I could only be sure of which way he went. He was going to take me that way, down the tunnel. Hurry, LeMond. Hurry. Take that ladder. All right, Margot, but get out of here if you can. Notify the police. Tell them the creeper shot you. Tell them you saw him escape down here through the cellar, but don't come back down here, Margot. There's no telling what may happen. What this spheem may do. Mr. Conrad, look. The creepers come back. Yes. Something's happened this day. But there may be the police. A pound of this horrible place at last. His face is bleeding. His eyes. How horrible. Being chained up like this. Like animals. We're helpless. If the police are coming, he'll kill us. I know he will. Wait. Wait. He's going to that chair. He calls it throne. Why doesn't he say something? Do something? Why is he standing here? He's turning this way. So things happened all right. I'm afraid something worse is going to happen. Nothing can be worse than this. Nothing. Why don't you get it over with? Why don't you kill us and be done with me? Yes. Why don't I? Why don't I kill all of you? That's it. That's it. Then he won't be able to take me away from my castle in the earth. And it's so easy. I had the dynamite. And it's all ready. All I have to do is light the fuse. That's it. That's it. That'll seal the tunnel. And we'll all die. What if we all be together? I wouldn't be lonely. It's too late for that, creeper. Shadow! So you've followed me here? Yes, creeper. Did you hear that? It's the shadow. The shadow? The shadow? Listen to me, all of you. You have nothing to fear for me. Nothing to fear for the shadow. I've come to help you. Get you out of this desert. But you won't, Shadow. You'll never take them away from me. Look. Look what I have in my hand. See? Dynamite. Dynamite. I stole that, too. I knew that someday I might need it. Someday someone would come. But it'll kill us all. And it'll kill you too, Shadow. No, creeper. I'm not chained. I can get away from you. Why don't you follow me? Follow my voice. Oh, dear. You're afraid, Shadow. You're running away. But you won't get far. You don't know this tunnel like I do. Then follow me. Follow my voice, creeper. Follow my voice. I'm following you. You can't go much further. You've come the wrong way. Behind you is the end of the tunnel. The end of the tunnel. And the end of you. Yes, this is the end of the tunnel. What are you waiting for, creeper? Like the view. Now is your chance. Yes. Yes, you're right. Now. Now is my chance. Now. You can't get away. Throw the dynamite. Throw it, creeper. Can't you get where I am by the sound of my voice? Yes. Yes. You're caught. You're caught, Shadow. With you out of the way, no one else knows except that girl. And I killed her. She can't tell. And I'll be safe. I'll be safe. Come in. Lamont. Lamont. Yes, Margo, I know. I've read the papers. They gave the Shadow a very fine obituary, don't you think? Lamont. What really happened? When the police got there, Eda Steyer and Mr. Conrad and the others told him the Shadow arrived just as the creeper was going to dynamite the place and kill them all. They said the Shadow tricked the creeper into following him down the tunnel, away from the others, so they wouldn't be killed. And then there was an explosion. They said the creeper and the Shadow were blown to pieces. Do I look blown to pieces, Margo? Oh, but Lamont, how did you escape? The old, old trick of voice projection, Margo. Ventriloquism. Easy in that tunnel. The creeper followed my voice, hurled the dynamite, where he thought my voice was coming from, ahead of him. But all the time I was behind him. Far enough behind him to be safe. Oh, I'm glad. Oh, I'm so glad, Lamont. I was afraid that this time it was true that the Shadow was dead. No, Margo. As Mark Twain once said, the report of my death has been grossly exaggerated. The Shadow is still alive. Very much alive, as the criminal world has discovered to its sorrow. You have been listening to a dramatized version of one of the many copyrighted stories, which appear on the Shadow magazine. The Weed of Crime. There's bitter fruit. Crime does not pay. The Shadow knows. All the characters and all the places named are fictitious. Any similarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. The Shadow is still alive. The Shadow is still alive. The Shadow is still alive. The Shadow is still alive. The Shadow is still alive. The Shadow is still alive. The Shadow is still alive. The Shadow is still alive. The Shadow is still alive.