The Shadow - The Laughing Corpse

0:03Speaker 1:What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.

0:18Speaker 2:The Shadow, mysterious character who aids the forces of law and order, is in reality Lamont Cranston, wealthy young man about town. The Shadow uses his hypnotic power to cloud men's minds.

0:30Speaker 3:So that they cannot see him. Cranston's friend and.

0:33Speaker 2:Companion, the lovely Margot Lane, is the only person who knows to whom.

0:38Speaker 3:The voice of the shadow belongs.

0:40Speaker 2:Today's story, The Laughing Court.

0:52Speaker 4:So when I see you come into the bar, I says to myself, there's a nice guy, I says. I'm a very keen judge of character.

1:01Speaker 3:Yes, sir.

1:02Speaker 4:So when you offer to buy me a drink, I accept. Say, by the way, mister, you ain't told me your name. What kind of a place is this you took me to? Looks like a lab or something. You know what I enjoyed when we got into the taxi cab? Yeah, I sure enjoyed that. Driver, take us to 31 Blackwell Place. 31 Blackwell Place. Gee, it's been a long time since I had a taxi ride. 31 Brackville Place.

1:34Speaker 3:Just like that.

1:34Speaker 5:Yeah.

1:37Speaker 1:Sure was nice of you to bring me here. I've been sleeping in the park for, gosh.

1:43Speaker 3:Say.

1:43Speaker 4:What did you mean when you said we was going to conduct a little experiment?

1:47Speaker 1:What did you mean, huh? Why aren't you talking to me?

1:51Speaker 4:You ain't sure, are you? Well, don't talk if you don't want to. I don't care. What are you making in those test tubes? What kind of stuff are you making? Say, why are you looking at me like that?

2:08Speaker 3:What have I done?

2:09Speaker 1:Don't look at me like that.

2:15Speaker 3:Hey, don't come any closer. I'm getting out of here.

2:19Speaker 5:I'm getting out of here. What?

2:23Speaker 1:Please, let me out of here. Let me out. What are you going to do with me? Go away. Go away, will you?

2:32Speaker 5:Let go.

2:43Speaker 3:Of my arm!

2:52Speaker 1:Margo, look, I, uh... I do enjoy this lovely cab drive with you, but, uh... Could you tell me where I'm going at this hour of the night?

2:59Speaker 6:Well, Lamont, if you knew, you'd get angry.

3:02Speaker 1:And not knowing makes me angrier.

3:03Speaker 3:Shrevy. Yes, sir?

3:05Speaker 1:Do you know where you're driving us to?

3:07Speaker 3:Let me see now.

3:09Speaker 2:What was the number of that place again, Miss Lane?

3:11Speaker 5:What was it?

3:12Speaker 6:31 Brackwell Place, Shreevy.

3:13Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah. 31 Brackwell Place. Oh, I'm such a stupid.

3:17Speaker 7:We've been there twice today, and all the time I keep forgetting the number. I got to get a new memory system I got to get.

3:23Speaker 5:What was the old memory system, Shreevy?

3:25Speaker 3:Oh, the old one was easy.

3:26Speaker 1:You see, like, take, for instance... Hey, where.

3:28Speaker 3:What's where you're going, Shreevy?

3:30Speaker 1:Oh.

3:31Speaker 3:Excuse me.

3:32Speaker 7:You take, for instance, the digits three and one, which is the place we're going to now. I hooked the three up with my kid, which is three years old, and the one I remember is by thinking how in one year he's going to be four.

3:45Speaker 3:Simple, ain't it?

3:47Speaker 5:Elementary. How could you possibly have forgotten the address of that system, Shrevie?

3:51Speaker 3:You know how? I got myself all mixed up with my other kid, which is six. Oh, I'm such a stupid. Shrevie, I feel just as stupid as you do.

4:01Speaker 1:I still don't know where we're going, why we're going to this place at 11.30 at night.

4:05Speaker 7:Well, if you wait till tomorrow, the apartment may be rented.

4:08Speaker 5:Shreevee, now you've given it all away.

4:10Speaker 1:Margo, are you taking the apartment hunting at this hour?

4:15Speaker 3:You know I hate that.

4:16Speaker 5:Oh, but, Lamont, don't you see? I wouldn't take it unless you thought it was all right.

4:21Speaker 1:I know, but.

4:22Speaker 5:You know how I value your opinion.

4:25Speaker 3:Well, why didn't you tell me sooner?

4:28Speaker 6:I wanted to surprise you.

4:30Speaker 3:Okay, I'm hooked.

4:33Speaker 1:What are you laughing about, Shrevie?

4:35Speaker 3:Well, I was just thinking, Mr. Cranston.

4:37Speaker 7:I was thinking how dames could twist guys right around their little fingers.

4:40Speaker 3:They could twist them. That'll be about all from you, Shrevie. Don't talk so much. Yes, sir. All right for you, Mr. Cranston.

4:47Speaker 5:You're pretty jumpy tonight, Lamont. What's the matter?

4:49Speaker 3:Oh, nothing, Margo.

4:50Speaker 1:I'm just bored, that's all.

4:52Speaker 5:I know. You haven't had anything to keep you busy. No criminals tracked down.

4:57Speaker 1:Shrevie, why'd you stop? Shrevie.

5:01Speaker 6:Shrevie, why don't you answer?

5:03Speaker 8:Mr.

5:03Speaker 1:Cranston said I shouldn't talk.

5:05Speaker 3:I shouldn't. So I ain't.

5:07Speaker 5:Now, you see what you've done, Lamar? You've hurt Shrevie's feelings.

5:10Speaker 3:I'm sorry, Shrevie.

5:11Speaker 1:I'm in a bad humor tonight.

5:13Speaker 3:No, you ain't, Mr.

5:14Speaker 1:Cranston. Oh, yes, I am.

5:15Speaker 6:Oh, here we are. This is the building.

5:16Speaker 5:31 Brackwell Place.

5:18Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.

5:18Speaker 2:It's 31 Brackwell Place.

5:20Speaker 3:That's why I stopped.

5:21Speaker 1:31 Brackwell Place.

5:23Speaker 3:Wait for it, Shrevie.

5:24Speaker 1:Okay.

5:25Speaker 5:Come on up this slide a step, Lamar.

5:27Speaker 1:All right. Well, it certainly is a weird-looking place.

5:32Speaker 5:Well, that's just because it's dark. Looks all right in the daylight.

5:34Speaker 8:Yeah.

5:35Speaker 5:Ring the superintendent's bell, will you, Lamar?

5:37Speaker 3:Yes, ma'am.

5:37Speaker 1:All right. Uh, Margo, uh... Won't he be angry at our disturbing him at this hour?

5:46Speaker 6:Oh, no.

5:46Speaker 5:He told me I could come back tonight to look at the apartment.

5:48Speaker 1:Oh? Well, what's so exceptional about this apartment, Margo?

5:51Speaker 5:Oh, Lamont, it has these high, old-fashioned ceilings and the most glorious view of the river.

5:58Speaker 1:Well, uh... Well... What do you want?

6:01Speaker 5:Oh, you remember me.

6:02Speaker 6:I'm Margo Lane.

6:03Speaker 5:I put a deposit down on one of the apartments here.

6:06Speaker 3:So what? No, he won't be angry.

6:08Speaker 5:Well, you said I could come back tonight to look at it. I said you could come back this evening.

6:13Speaker 6:It's 11.30 now, young lady.

6:14Speaker 3:You got me out of bed.

6:15Speaker 1:Well, what did I tell you, Margo?

6:17Speaker 6:Oh, please, Mr.

6:18Speaker 5:um.

6:18Speaker 3:My name is Laskham.

6:20Speaker 6:Please, Mr.

6:20Speaker 5:Laskham, I know it's very inconsiderate to bother you at this hour, but couldn't we please see the apartment?

6:27Speaker 1:Oh, well, come in. Thank you. Down the end of this hall. Uh, aren't there any lights?

6:37Speaker 3:The bulb just burned out this evening. Oh, I see. Here we are.

6:48Speaker 5:Just a minute now till I find the light switch.

6:50Speaker 1:Nice bright place.

6:53Speaker 5:There. How do you like it, Lamont?

6:55Speaker 1:Like it?

6:57Speaker 3:I think it looks terrible. Well, of course, the place needs redecorating.

7:01Speaker 1:Yes, and badly. Well, look at the holes in the wall. What caused that?

7:05Speaker 3:Well, the previous tenant was Dr. Destrop. He's a chemist.

7:09Speaker 5:He used this apartment as a kind of a laboratory.

7:12Speaker 3:The holes are from some of his apparatus. Oh, I see.

7:16Speaker 1:Well.

7:17Speaker 5:What do you think, Lamont?

7:19Speaker 1:Well, if you want it quiet, you've certainly got it here.

7:22Speaker 5:Yes, and it's always like this.

7:24Speaker 3:Always nice and quiet.

7:26Speaker 1:What's that? I don't know. Someone thinks something is funny, all right. Well, listen to him.

7:35Speaker 5:Lamont, that doesn't sound like....

7:43Speaker 3:Come on, Muggle.

7:44Speaker 1:I'm going to see what this is all about. There, Lamont.

7:48Speaker 5:Across that door sill. Dr.

7:50Speaker 1:Lorenz.

7:50Speaker 3:Here, give me a hand.

7:51Speaker 1:His body's so tense. As if he had a convulsion or something. Let's turn him over. There we are. Oh!

7:59Speaker 5:Oh, his face. His face, Lamont.

8:03Speaker 3:Margo, get hold of yourself.

8:04Speaker 5:Oh, but his face, Lamont.

8:05Speaker 6:It's all twisted up as though we were laughing.

8:07Speaker 3:Don't look at him, Margo.

8:08Speaker 1:What are we going to do? There's nothing we can do now. This man is dead.

8:19Speaker 3:What makes you think Dr.

8:21Speaker 1:Lorenz was murdered, Cranston? I don't know, Commissioner Weston. Just a hunch.

8:25Speaker 4:Well, there's not a mark of violence on the body.

8:27Speaker 5:Well, if you'd heard that terrible laugh, Commissioner, you'd think something was wrong, too.

8:32Speaker 4:Miss Lane, I'm sorry. I didn't hear the laugh. But even if I had, there's still not a bit of evidence here. Not a single clue to indicate murder.

8:40Speaker 6:Well, Commissioner... All right, all right.

8:41Speaker 3:Now, you, you, uh... Laskham is my name. Ah, Laskham. Now, what do you know about this?

8:46Speaker 1:I told you nothing.

8:48Speaker 3:I was showing Mr.

8:49Speaker 6:Cranston and Miss Lane that apartment when it happened.

8:51Speaker 1:And did the dead man, Dr. Lorenz, have any enemies, Laskham? No, not that I know of.

8:56Speaker 4:Who was the man who occupied that apartment Miss Lane was thinking of renting?

8:59Speaker 5:Dr.

8:59Speaker 3:Destroff.

9:00Speaker 7:But I told you that, Commissioner Weston.

9:02Speaker 1:Ah, Destroff and Lorenz.

9:04Speaker 6:Yeah.

9:04Speaker 1:Now I remember those names.

9:05Speaker 3:They're partners.

9:06Speaker 1:They own a big chemical laboratory.

9:07Speaker 3:Didn't you know that? You didn't ask me.

9:10Speaker 1:I didn't ask you. Why did Destroff move out of his apartment?

9:13Speaker 3:He had a big.

9:14Speaker 7:Argument with his partner, Dr.

9:15Speaker 5:Lorenz, about two weeks ago, and he moved out the next day. Then he's the one who must have done it.

9:20Speaker 1:Done what, Miss Lane?

9:22Speaker 6:Murdered Dr.

9:22Speaker 1:Lorenz.

9:24Speaker 5:Miss Lane.

9:25Speaker 4:As yet, I'm not convinced that Lorenz has been murdered. In the second place, from what your cab driver, Shrevie, says, no one has come in or out.

9:33Speaker 3:Of this house.

9:34Speaker 6:Well, maybe he's still here, then.

9:36Speaker 4:Miss Lane, my men have searched this house.

9:38Speaker 1:From top to bottom.

9:39Speaker 5:Well, I still.

9:40Speaker 4:Cranston, please.

9:41Speaker 3:I understand, Commissioner. Come on, Margo.

9:44Speaker 1:You're going home. Commissioner.

9:45Speaker 5:Huh?

9:46Speaker 3:Oh, yes, Doc. What is it?

9:48Speaker 1:How long ago was this man supposed to have died? Well, we heard the laugh and then the sound of a body falling about an hour ago. From my examination, you couldn't have. What?

9:58Speaker 6:Are you trying to tell us that we're hearing?

10:00Speaker 2:Things?

10:00Speaker 3:Well, all I can say is it's all pretty strange.

10:03Speaker 1:What do you mean, Doctor? Well, the body was as stiff as a board when I examined him. Rigor mortis is so far advanced, you couldn't possibly have heard him laugh tonight. What?

10:13Speaker 9:According to my examination, Dr. Lorenz has been dead for 24 hours.

10:24Speaker 5:The way the medical examiner talked, you'd think we didn't know what we were doing, Lamont. How could the man be dead and laugh?

10:31Speaker 1:The laughing corpse. It is pretty strange, Margo.

10:35Speaker 5:I think Commissioner Weston ought to get a new medical examiner, is what I think.

10:39Speaker 1:Well, Margo, you remember when I went to turn Dr. Lawrence over, I remarked that the body was stiff? And it does look as if he'd been dead for some time.

10:47Speaker 6:But that terrible laugh, Lamont. What is that?

10:50Speaker 1:I don't know, Margot.

10:51Speaker 5:And Lorenz's face was contorted as though he'd been laughing.

10:55Speaker 1:Margot, I believe it was Lorenz that we heard.

10:59Speaker 6:Why do you say that, Lamont?

11:01Speaker 1:And look at this.

11:03Speaker 6:Why, it's a little box. Looks like a jewel box. Yes.

11:05Speaker 1:Read what's written inside the cover.

11:09Speaker 6:You will laugh, but not from joy.

11:13Speaker 5:You will laugh, and the laugh will be the laugh of death.

11:18Speaker 6:Lamont.

11:19Speaker 1:I found this little box lying in the floor near Lorenzo's body before Weston came.

11:24Speaker 5:What do you suppose was in it, Lamont?

11:26Speaker 1:I don't know, Margot. But I'm going to find out. The shadow is going to pay a visit to Dr. Destro's laboratory tonight. Perhaps there I shall find the solution to the mystery of the laughing corpse. We shall see if the formula is correct.

11:59Speaker 3:The proper capitalism. Who is there?

12:02Speaker 8:I thought I heard the door open. It must be my imagination. It is more than your.

12:13Speaker 3:Imagination, Dr.

12:14Speaker 1:Distro. What? Who is it?

12:17Speaker 3:I can't see you.

12:18Speaker 1:No man has ever seen the shadow, Dr.

12:21Speaker 3:Distro. The shadow? Oh, yes, I have heard of you. What do you want of me? Everything. from joy.

12:32Speaker 1:Your laugh on the laugh will be the laugh of death.

12:36Speaker 3:Where did you hear that? The shadow has.

12:38Speaker 1:Ways of finding things out, Dr. Destroff.

12:41Speaker 9:You'd better tell me what you know of the laughing death. The laughing death? You tell me, shadow.

12:46Speaker 1:Has it already happened? Is Lorenz dead? It won't do you any good to pretend innocence. Lorenz was murdered earlier this evening.

12:54Speaker 3:How did he die? Tell me, I must know. You know how he died.

12:58Speaker 1:Yes, yes, I know.

12:59Speaker 9:I know how he died, just as the notes warned us.

13:02Speaker 3:The notes?

13:04Speaker 1:Not since last year. Ah, so he is made good, he's threatened. Move, Destro.

13:10Speaker 3:I'd better tell you everything, Shadow.

13:12Speaker 9:Seven years ago, there was another partner in this laboratory.

13:15Speaker 1:Besides myself and Destroff. A man named Vitor. He was incompetent, a drunkard.

13:22Speaker 9:When Lorenz and I perfected a new formula, we refused to give him a share of the profits.

13:26Speaker 3:Good. After he'd at words, we dissolved the partnership with Vitor.

13:30Speaker 1:Then Lorenz and I opened a new.

13:32Speaker 3:Laboratory by ourselves.

13:33Speaker 1:You threw him out?

13:35Speaker 3:Call it that if you will. He only hindered us. He was ruined. No money and no credit.

13:41Speaker 9:And he was really a brilliant chemist, but undependable.

13:44Speaker 3:It was impossible for him to get work.

13:46Speaker 1:What happened to him? That we do not know.

13:49Speaker 9:He came to us and begged to be taken back, but we refused.

13:54Speaker 1:Lorenz laughed at.

13:55Speaker 3:Him, and I suppose I did too.

13:58Speaker 1:He was so ridiculous. Vito threatened you?

14:01Speaker 3:Yes. With the laughing death. Each year a note has come with the same words.

14:07Speaker 9:He will laugh, but not from joy. He will laugh, and the laugh will be the laugh of death.

14:14Speaker 3:I see.

14:16Speaker 1:Why did you and Lawrence quarrel? Why did you move.

14:20Speaker 3:From your apartment? Oh, you know that, too. Yes, Destroff, I know.

14:24Speaker 9:Well, you see, Lawrence took the threat seriously, and I did at first.

14:28Speaker 3:But after nothing happened for so many years.

14:30Speaker 1:I thought it was just, well, a means of annoyance. And this year... No note came.

14:38Speaker 9:And Lorenzo was very much upset and worried.

14:42Speaker 3:He believed it meant that Vidor would strike.

14:45Speaker 1:And you?

14:46Speaker 9:Well, I laughed at the whole idea. I told Lorenzo that if he wanted to go the rest of his life fearing a foolish threat, he could.

14:53Speaker 3:But I refused to bother about it anymore. This led to words and I left in anger.

14:59Speaker 1:I see. And where does this other partner live?

15:02Speaker 3:Oh, why, I think that he.

15:03Speaker 6:Oh, what is this?

15:05Speaker 3:Oh, I did not notice it before. A small package addressed to me.

15:10Speaker 9:My assistant must have put it on my desk earlier and I had not noticed it.

15:14Speaker 1:Don't touch that box. Why?

15:16Speaker 3:It looks like a little jewel box.

15:18Speaker 1:A tiny box similar to that one was found next to Loren's body.

15:22Speaker 6:Oh, yes?

15:24Speaker 1:What was in its shadow?

15:26Speaker 3:Nothing, Destroff.

15:27Speaker 1:Except that threat written on the inside cover. Oh, now, surely the words cannot hurt me. There may have been something in the box when Lawrence opened it.

15:35Speaker 9:Oh, now, Shadow, my scientific curiosity will not permit me to allow this box to go unopened. I have rubber gloves on it. If it contains some strange type of poison, it cannot possibly hurt me.

15:48Speaker 1:Descott, I'm warning you.

15:49Speaker 3:Oh, now, Shadow, I must open it. There, there seems to be a little push button here.

15:55Speaker 5:There.

15:57Speaker 3:It's empty.

15:59Speaker 1:Wait. There's a message written on the inside. You will laugh, but not from joy. You will laugh, and the laugh will be the laugh of death. The same laugh that Lorenz received. Yes. Destroff, your life is in danger.

16:17Speaker 3:You must tell me where Vito lives. Yes, yes.

16:20Speaker 9:Before he can complete his revenge.

16:23Speaker 3:I think that he leaves. I.

16:25Speaker 7:I think.

16:47Speaker 3:Where should I put these bundles, Miss Lane?

16:49Speaker 6:Oh, just set them down anywhere, Shrevie.

16:51Speaker 5:I'll put them away when the rest of the furniture comes.

16:53Speaker 3:Okay, Miss Lane.

16:55Speaker 6:Well, don't drop them right in the middle of the room, Shrevie.

16:58Speaker 7:Well, you said just to put them down anywhere, you said.

17:00Speaker 5:Well, I meant out of the way, over there in the corner someplace. Okay.

17:04Speaker 1:Hey, what do you got in these packages, samples?

17:07Speaker 5:Just odds and ends, Shrevie.

17:09Speaker 3:There, how's that?

17:10Speaker 5:That's fine. Now, is there anything else in your cab?

17:13Speaker 3:Yeah, Miss Lane, a few more odds in the evening.

17:15Speaker 6:Mr.

17:15Speaker 3:Clancy's bringing them up.

17:17Speaker 1:Hey! Open this door a little wider, someone.

17:20Speaker 3:I can't get through.

17:20Speaker 5:All right.

17:21Speaker 6:How's that?

17:23Speaker 1:He's got in these bundles, Margo.

17:25Speaker 3:They ain't anvils, they ain't.

17:27Speaker 9:What?

17:27Speaker 6:Put them down, Lamar, before he drops them.

17:29Speaker 1:Not in the center of the room, Mr.

17:30Speaker 2:Clancy.

17:31Speaker 1:Out of the way, in the corner there. Trevi, will you stop giving orders and do some work around here?

17:35Speaker 3:Certainly. What could I do? What could I do?

17:37Speaker 5:Well, there isn't anything else to do until the rest of the stuff gets here.

17:39Speaker 1:I should have been here an hour ago.

17:41Speaker 4:Hey, you want I should go back to the old apartment and get them moving.

17:43Speaker 3:Faster, you want?

17:44Speaker 6:That might be a very good idea, Shrevie.

17:46Speaker 3:Okay, I'll do it. I'll tell them a thing or two. I'll teach them a lesson they'll soon forget.

17:50Speaker 1:Now, don't get too rough with us moving men, Shrevie. Remember, the iron hand and the velvet glove.

17:55Speaker 3:Well, I look.

17:56Speaker 5:What?

17:56Speaker 1:Oh, never mind, Shrevie. Hurry them up.

17:58Speaker 3:The iron hand and the velvet glove.

18:00Speaker 1:I guess that's a puzzle. Well, Margo, you thought of everything except one thing.

18:05Speaker 5:What?

18:06Speaker 1:What are you going to sit on while you wait for the movers to get here?

18:08Speaker 5:Oh, I'll be too busy to sit down, Lamont. But you know, now that I'm here in this apartment, I'm not very keen on it.

18:17Speaker 1:You're not?

18:17Speaker 5:No.

18:18Speaker 1:Well, isn't that just like a woman? What about the high ceilings and the glorious view of the river?

18:23Speaker 6:Oh, that's all right, Lamont, but... Well, this place gives me the creeps.

18:29Speaker 10:I can still hear the sound of that horrible laugh.

18:33Speaker 6:First you tell me you don't like the apartment, and then you persuade.

18:35Speaker 5:Me to move here.

18:36Speaker 1:Well, Margo, the reason I wanted you to rent this apartment is I believe that the solution to the laughing corpse may still be here.

18:43Speaker 5:Well, that isn't going to make me feel any better about living here. Have the police found anything.

18:48Speaker 1:New, Lamont? No. A report from the medical examiner on Destroff's death. The same as for Lauren. Death from causes unknown.

18:57Speaker 5:And there was nothing in the little box when Destroff opened it?

18:59Speaker 1:Not a thing, except that note.

19:02Speaker 3:Here, look for yourself.

19:03Speaker 5:Oh, yes. It's exactly like the little box you found in Lorenzo's apartment. How do you open it, Lamont?

19:10Speaker 3:Here, give it to me.

19:11Speaker 1:See, you press this little button here in the center.

19:14Speaker 5:Oh! What's the matter, Lamont?

19:15Speaker 1:I break my finger on something sharp when I press the button. That's it, Margo.

19:20Speaker 5:What?

19:21Speaker 1:That must be the way the poison was administered. After Destroff pressed the button to open the box, he started to laugh.

19:28Speaker 6:Oh, Lamont, then you.

19:29Speaker 1:Yes, the drug. Now I've got it, too.

19:31Speaker 6:Oh, no, Lamont.

19:33Speaker 1:Well... Nothing's happened to me yet.

19:36Speaker 5:Why did you break the box open, Lamont?

19:38Speaker 1:See here, Margo. A tiny hypodermic needle concealed in the cover. When the button is pressed, the person pushing the button is given a dose of poison in the fingertips.

19:48Speaker 6:Oh, Lamont, come on.

19:49Speaker 5:I must get you to a doctor.

19:50Speaker 1:Wait a minute, Margo. That won't be necessary. I'm going to be all right.

19:54Speaker 6:But you.

19:54Speaker 1:The needle must have been empty, Margo. Destroff got it all.

19:57Speaker 6:Oh, thank heaven.

19:59Speaker 5:You're all right.

19:59Speaker 1:Margo, where's your phone? I've got to call Commissioner Weston immediately.

20:02Speaker 5:The phone? Well, it hasn't been installed yet, Lamont. Oh?

20:05Speaker 1:Well, I'll go to the corner of the phone.

20:08Speaker 6:Come in.

20:10Speaker 4:I just came up to tell you, Miss Lane, that the decorators.

20:13Speaker 1:Are coming in tomorrow. I'll see you later, Margo.

20:15Speaker 5:All right, Lamont. The decorators want.

20:18Speaker 1:To know if 8 o'clock will be all right with you.

20:20Speaker 5:Oh, yes, that'll be fine, Mr. Laskin, thank you.

20:23Speaker 6:Oh, there was something else I wanted to ask you about.

20:25Speaker 5:The plumbing in the kitchen doesn't work very well, and do you think that....

20:29Speaker 6:Well, Mr. Laskin, what's the matter?

20:33Speaker 1:Where did you get this little box? Well, I.

20:36Speaker 5:I don't see that that's any business of yours.

20:39Speaker 3:Perhaps it is. More than you know. Tell me.

20:43Speaker 6:Let go of my arm.

20:44Speaker 3:What do you know?

20:45Speaker 5:I'll scream for help.

20:46Speaker 1:Go ahead.

20:47Speaker 6:Scream.

20:49Speaker 3:No one will hear you.

20:51Speaker 5:We're quite alone here. You.

20:54Speaker 6:You're the killer. You killed Lorenz and Destro. Well, suppose I did.

20:59Speaker 1:You know now, but it won't do you any good to know. You're going to die.

21:03Speaker 5:Lamont!

21:05Speaker 3:Oh, go ahead. You're frightened, aren't you? In a moment, you'll think it's very funny, yes.

21:12Speaker 1:Very humorous.

21:12Speaker 5:Please. You'll laugh. Yes.

21:14Speaker 3:You'll laugh.

21:15Speaker 5:Oh, no.

21:16Speaker 1:And you will die laughing.

21:26Speaker 6:Oh, please, Mr.

21:27Speaker 1:Luscombe.

21:28Speaker 5:I've never done anything to you.

21:29Speaker 1:No, you and your friend, Mr. Cranston, know too much, Miss Lane.

21:33Speaker 5:You wanted to catch me, make me pay for my crimes.

21:36Speaker 10:I would never have suspected you if you hadn't given yourself away.

21:38Speaker 5:That's most unfortunate for you, Miss Lane. What do you mean?

21:43Speaker 9:You see, I've brought you down here to my laboratory in the basement to kill you.

21:47Speaker 1:Oh, no. Don't be unhappy.

21:49Speaker 5:You laugh as you never laughed before.

21:52Speaker 1:Oh, you can't. I'm preparing my secret formula.

21:56Speaker 3:The laughing death.

21:57Speaker 5:Oh, now, please. One for you and one hypodermic for your friend, Mr.

22:01Speaker 1:Cranston.

22:01Speaker 5:Please, I promise I'll never say anything.

22:03Speaker 1:You bet.

22:04Speaker 3:I can't believe that. It won't do you any good to try to get loose. I took the.

22:08Speaker 5:Precaution of finding you very quickly.

22:12Speaker 6:Now, now everything's ready. No, no, don't come any closer.

22:19Speaker 5:Prepare yourself, Miss Lane.

22:22Speaker 1:It won't hurt very much. And you'll be so happy. So happy. You will laugh and laugh and laugh and then you will die. What? Something knocked the hypodermic.

22:41Speaker 3:Needle from my hand.

22:42Speaker 1:This is the end of your evil work.

22:44Speaker 6:That voice.

22:45Speaker 5:The shadow, thank heaven.

22:46Speaker 3:So you were the third partner, Laskum.

22:48Speaker 5:Yes. I was in partnership with Lorenz and Destroff.

22:52Speaker 1:Now I'm the only one alive. They ruined me. They took everything from me.

22:55Speaker 3:You're out of your mind, Laskum.

22:56Speaker 4:You blame them for your own fault.

22:58Speaker 1:No.

22:59Speaker 9:No, they caused my downfall, so I killed them.

23:01Speaker 1:You vowed to revenge yourself. You came here, got yourself a job as superintendent in the same building in which they lived.

23:05Speaker 5:Yes. I disguised myself.

23:09Speaker 3:They never recognized me.

23:12Speaker 1:It's a great loss to civilization that you couldn't have used it for good instead of evil.

23:16Speaker 3:The police will soon be here. The police will never get me.

23:19Speaker 5:Shadow, stop him.

23:20Speaker 6:He has another needle ready with the poison.

23:22Speaker 5:Stop, Laskum.

23:22Speaker 3:Stop, I say.

23:23Speaker 1:Too late, Shadow. I've already administered the drug to myself. At least I have the last laugh.

23:33Speaker 3:Ha, ha, ha.

23:34Speaker 1:Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha.

23:37Speaker 5:Ha, ha, ha.

23:49Speaker 1:Now, you see, Margo, the plan was devilishly well executed.

23:52Speaker 6:Well, how did you know where I was, Lamont?

23:54Speaker 1:When I came back to the apartment after calling Weston, you were gone. I figured you were with the superintendent. You remember he came in just before I went out.

24:03Speaker 5:Yes, Laskham or whatever his name was.

24:05Speaker 1:His real name was Vitor.

24:07Speaker 10:Well, Vitor disguised himself and took the job here as superintendent of the building so he could watch his enemies, Destroff and Lorenz.

24:14Speaker 1:That's right, Margo.

24:15Speaker 6:Then he sent them the little boxes.

24:17Speaker 5:With the hidden hypodermic needle filled.

24:19Speaker 6:With a laughing death.

24:20Speaker 1:Uh-huh.

24:22Speaker 10:Oh, Lamont, just the memory of that terrible laughter makes my blood run cold. And the look on Lorenzo's face when we found him.

24:29Speaker 1:Margo, we didn't really hear him laugh.

24:32Speaker 6:What? Well, if that wasn't a laugh, what was it?

24:35Speaker 1:Well, you see, the poison in the hypodermic needle was very potent and worked very rapidly. It caused a sort of convulsion that sounded like laughter.

24:42Speaker 10:Well, if you're trying to tell me that the victims didn't enjoy themselves, you needn't go any farther. Is that why the medical examiner thought that Lorenz had been dead for some time when he examined him?

24:52Speaker 1:Yes, the poison caused a sudden contraction of the muscles, a sort of pseudo-rigomortis.

24:57Speaker 5:What?

24:58Speaker 1:Pseudo-rigomortis. Oh.

25:01Speaker 6:If you think I understand what you're talking about, you're crazy.

25:03Speaker 3:I'll answer it, Margo. Hello, Mr.

25:08Speaker 5:Cranston. Hello.

25:09Speaker 3:Hello, Shrevie.

25:10Speaker 5:Oh, Shrevie, is everything all set?

25:11Speaker 3:In the back. Yeah, I mean, yes, Miss Lane, all set.

25:15Speaker 5:Oh, come on, Lamar, let's go.

25:16Speaker 3:Go where?

25:18Speaker 5:We're going to look at a new apartment for me.

25:20Speaker 1:New apartment?

25:21Speaker 5:Well, you don't suppose I'm going to live in this place after what's happened here?

25:24Speaker 3:Yeah, we're moving. What, again?

25:25Speaker 1:That's the same thing I said, Mr.

25:27Speaker 3:Cranston.

25:28Speaker 1:Ain't women.

25:29Speaker 5:Shrevie?

25:29Speaker 3:Well, Miss Lane, I was only about to comment, uh.

25:32Speaker 1:Ain't women wonderful?

25:34Speaker 3:I got out of that one all right.