1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:20,519 Speaker 1: And now mystery, the come in. 2 00:00:22,719 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 2: Welcome. I'm e. G. Marshall. 3 00:00:26,359 --> 00:00:30,399 Speaker 3: It is the fashion today, dating from Freud, to consider 4 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:35,000 that insanity is not hereditary, even the predisposition to it. 5 00:00:35,679 --> 00:00:39,119 But the great Stigmund Freud died less than forty years ago, 6 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:43,399 and before him the taint of madness was accepted to 7 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:47,439 run in families, passed on down through the generations like 8 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:52,000 some congenital disease. Whether the belief is true or not, 9 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,920 there is a harrowing story of such a family. 10 00:00:57,159 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 2: But Dad, mister Monkton is your best friend. It has 11 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,280 been all your life. Jim Moncton is one thing he 12 00:01:03,439 --> 00:01:04,879 escaped the curse, thank the Lord. 13 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 4: Well you can't for a woman, imagine that Stephen, who 14 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:11,040 happens to be my best friend, is anything but nor 15 00:01:11,159 --> 00:01:12,159 my hope. 16 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 5: And pray he is, but he's still young. Yet when 17 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:18,799 they say it skips generations, I'm not going to argue anymore. 18 00:01:18,879 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 2: I know your mother put you up to The mother 19 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:22,879 had nothing to do with it. I'm thinking of my. 20 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,159 Speaker 5: Sister Anne would be far better off with a short 21 00:01:25,239 --> 00:01:27,840 term headache than a lifetime of misery and despair. But 22 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,560 far no, David, I'd rather put her in a convent, 23 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,200 than see her married to a Mouncton. For as sure 24 00:01:34,239 --> 00:01:36,959 as I'm standing here, I know it in my bones 25 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,200 that Stephen Moncton is marked by the curse of his family. 26 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:45,280 He'll end up a raving maniac or dead before his time. 27 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:59,799 Speaker 3: Our mystery drama Mad Moncton was especially adapted from the 28 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,480 Ookie Collins classic for the mystery theater by Ian Martin 29 00:02:03,959 --> 00:02:17,319 and stars Christopher Tabori. The great Scottish historian Carlisle said, 30 00:02:17,759 --> 00:02:23,879 history is a distillation of rumor. However, a contradictory quote 31 00:02:24,039 --> 00:02:29,199 is where there's smoke, there's fire, whichever may be true. 32 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,360 Of the Muncton family, gossip had marked them as a 33 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:38,000 family damned by hereditary insanity. Every kind of insanity had 34 00:02:38,039 --> 00:02:41,879 cropped up through the years, monomania being. 35 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 2: The most common. 36 00:02:43,439 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 3: The world of the Muncton family shrank to almost nobody 37 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,919 except for the Elmsleys, friends and neighbors. 38 00:02:56,039 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 4: My father and mister Monkton have been school friends, and 39 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,960 when years later their paths crossed again, their. 40 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 2: Friendship was renewed. 41 00:03:03,759 --> 00:03:06,039 Speaker 4: By that time, my youngest sister and myself were almost 42 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:06,560 of age. 43 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 2: Was little more than a year separating us. 44 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 4: Mister Monkton's son, Stephen, was about Anne's age, and I 45 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,280 remember coming home in my last year of college to 46 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,159 find that they were in love and wanted to be engaged. 47 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:21,319 The Monkton family and my mother and myself were all 48 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,680 for it. My dad was the only stumbling block. 49 00:03:25,199 --> 00:03:28,719 Speaker 6: It makes me so mad, David, mean, Dad can get 50 00:03:28,719 --> 00:03:31,919 so big headed. Couldn't you shake him at all? You 51 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:32,919 are my last home. 52 00:03:33,159 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 4: I did my best, princess, but it was running my 53 00:03:35,599 --> 00:03:36,800 head against solid granite. 54 00:03:36,879 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 6: But it's all so silly, It's so unfair. It's not 55 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:40,680 like him. 56 00:03:40,919 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 4: No, Usually my father's pretty easy to get on with, 57 00:03:44,159 --> 00:03:47,439 and usually you can twist him around your finger or mom. 58 00:03:47,479 --> 00:03:51,879 Speaker 6: Not this time. How can he risk mister Monkton's friendship 59 00:03:51,919 --> 00:03:53,360 with some crazy notion? 60 00:03:54,759 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 2: What made me use that word princess? 61 00:03:58,919 --> 00:04:00,199 Speaker 6: What know? 62 00:04:01,439 --> 00:04:04,199 Speaker 2: I know how much Dad loves you and wants your happiness. 63 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,639 Speaker 4: It's hard to see him being set against this except 64 00:04:08,599 --> 00:04:12,319 except what well? I mean, Dad is a doctor. He 65 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:14,800 has a lot of special knowledge none of the rest 66 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:15,319 of us have. 67 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,040 Speaker 7: Maybe, David, all three do you dare to stand out 68 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:21,879 here in our garden and suggest in front of God 69 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:23,600 and everybody that your best. 70 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 4: Friend is all right, all right, hold it, just let's 71 00:04:26,319 --> 00:04:29,279 get a couple of things straight. First of all, you're 72 00:04:29,399 --> 00:04:32,720 my first interest in this second. Sure, Stephen is a friend, 73 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,839 but not my best one. I'm away at college most 74 00:04:35,879 --> 00:04:38,120 of the time except summers like this. 75 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 6: So you're against me too. 76 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 2: No, I'm not. For all I can see. Stephen's a 77 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:44,839 darn nice guy. 78 00:04:45,079 --> 00:04:47,959 Speaker 4: But if Dad knows something, I mean, if there is 79 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,160 some kind of disease we don't understand about. 80 00:04:51,199 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 6: All I know is I love Stephen, and I'm gonna 81 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,120 marry him, even if I have to run away with him. 82 00:04:55,199 --> 00:04:56,959 Speaker 2: You can't do that. You're both under age. 83 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,199 Speaker 6: We can wait. It's not that long, and once we 84 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:02,319 both get to be of age, we'll be married, even 85 00:05:02,319 --> 00:05:04,399 though he's over Dad's dead body. 86 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,600 Speaker 4: Poor Anne, she was going to regret those words, but 87 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,560 before that, she was going to have more immediate regrets. 88 00:05:15,199 --> 00:05:17,160 For as soon as my father refused to give us 89 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,040 consent to the engagement, and naturally he was forced to 90 00:05:20,079 --> 00:05:23,319 reveal his reason for it, Monkton Abbey was closed to 91 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:27,120 our family forever, and Stephen forbidden to go near any 92 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,199 of us. Anne was beside herself till I worked out 93 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:34,279 a little subterfuge. I returned to college and wrote my father. 94 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,519 Speaker 2: That I was having a series of strange. 95 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,879 Speaker 4: Headaches, which brought him posthaste to diagnose them. So while 96 00:05:39,879 --> 00:05:42,600 he was away, my mother could arrange to let the 97 00:05:42,639 --> 00:05:44,040 two love birds meet. 98 00:05:45,959 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 6: David was an angel and got Dad out of the 99 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:54,319 way for a day or two. Now, Stephen, what are 100 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:54,959 we going to do? 101 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: Well, wait till you're twenty one, and then I'm going 102 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,439 to carry you off like night and the old stories 103 00:06:01,439 --> 00:06:02,120 of Derek Doode. 104 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 6: If your father will let you, I'll. 105 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: Be twenty one in less than four months. There's nothing 106 00:06:05,959 --> 00:06:08,480 he can do to stop me, nothing either of them 107 00:06:08,519 --> 00:06:08,759 can do. 108 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 6: But would he try? 109 00:06:10,399 --> 00:06:13,319 Speaker 1: I don't know. He's awfully angry with your father, and 110 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,120 he could be just as stubborn that damn legend. You 111 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,759 know it bothers him and doctor Elmsley hit him right 112 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,439 where it hurts the most, in his pride. 113 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:25,199 Speaker 6: But what started it all? 114 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: Ever knows the things I've heard, I won't shock you 115 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,639 by repeating, but there's no proof for any of it. 116 00:06:31,639 --> 00:06:36,759 It all started so long, long ago, and it never 117 00:06:36,759 --> 00:06:39,199 would have amounted to anything. I suppose that people weren't. 118 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 7: So jealous because your family's always been so rich and powerful. 119 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: Something like that. Lord knows, there's enough money we're rolling 120 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:50,199 in it. We can live like whatever we please, wherever 121 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:51,800 we please when I come into it. 122 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,959 Speaker 6: Unless your father's still angry enough to cut you off, well. 123 00:06:54,879 --> 00:06:57,319 Speaker 1: Who would he leave it to? And there's only Uncle 124 00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,920 Alfred left. He's off in Europe somewhere, and enough in 125 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:00,560 his own right. 126 00:07:00,959 --> 00:07:01,639 Speaker 6: What's he like? 127 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: Wu a monster? My esteemed uncle is enough to give 128 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,759 the whole family a bad name just by himself. I've 129 00:07:10,759 --> 00:07:12,839 only seen him twice. I honestly think he is so 130 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,399 completely evil. My father pays him off to keep him 131 00:07:16,439 --> 00:07:19,000 out of the country. Let's not worry about Uncle Alvie. 132 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,199 He's not any part of our problems. 133 00:07:25,279 --> 00:07:29,279 Speaker 4: Prophetic words again, If pos Stephen could only have known, 134 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:31,839 if any of us could have known the future when 135 00:07:31,839 --> 00:07:33,480 Anne wrote me from meeting with Stephen. 136 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,839 Speaker 2: But we didn't, and if he had, this story might 137 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:38,839 never have happened. 138 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 4: Just before the Christmas holidays, Stephen's father died very suddenly 139 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,600 of a heart attack. Immediately after the funeral, and my father, 140 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,360 claiming that a lingering bronchial infection was endangering my mother's life, 141 00:07:58,759 --> 00:08:01,319 moved the rest of our family to the south of Spain. 142 00:08:02,279 --> 00:08:04,439 So it was that Stephen and I spent the Christmas 143 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:09,839 season together. For many reasons, I appreciate your company, David. 144 00:08:10,079 --> 00:08:12,279 Where else would I go with my family over one 145 00:08:12,319 --> 00:08:13,240 thousand miles away. 146 00:08:13,639 --> 00:08:15,079 Speaker 1: You could have joined them in Spain. 147 00:08:15,399 --> 00:08:17,399 Speaker 2: Most of the time would have been spent getting there 148 00:08:17,399 --> 00:08:17,879 and back. 149 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 4: Besides, it's more important now to find out about your 150 00:08:20,639 --> 00:08:21,639 plans for the future. 151 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,399 Speaker 1: In a few weeks, I shall be twenty one, my 152 00:08:25,519 --> 00:08:28,720 own master. I shall have an income up thirty thousand 153 00:08:28,759 --> 00:08:32,480 pounds a year. In six months, your sister will be 154 00:08:32,519 --> 00:08:35,480 twenty one. I have her own mistress. I intend to 155 00:08:35,519 --> 00:08:37,639 marry her. Have you any objection? 156 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,039 Speaker 2: None? So you and Anne will be married by someone 157 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,679 with or without your father's consent. 158 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 4: Whither without my father's consent, even if it's over his 159 00:08:53,279 --> 00:08:57,919 dead body. Phrases that haunt me and will haunt me, 160 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:03,039 I suppose to my grave, I hope not beyond. For 161 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,440 a few days before my sister's twenty first birthday, my 162 00:09:06,519 --> 00:09:10,000 father picked up a virulent case of the Spanish flu, 163 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:14,159 and within three days was gone. My mother and Anne 164 00:09:14,159 --> 00:09:16,200 brought his body home to Wincot for burial. 165 00:09:16,639 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 2: And I met them there. 166 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 4: But during the week I waited for them to return, 167 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:23,960 I learned of the strange goings on at Monkton Abbey 168 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:28,720 and discovered that my one time friend Stephen refused to 169 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:30,600 see or talked to me. 170 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 6: But well, I didn't he even come to the funeral, David. 171 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:39,559 Speaker 4: I don't know, Anne, he won't see me. That the 172 00:09:39,639 --> 00:09:42,559 servants barred the doors. I can't even force my way in. 173 00:09:42,759 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 6: But doesn't he want to see? Doesn't he ask for me? 174 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 2: He? And I don't know how to tell you this. 175 00:09:51,039 --> 00:09:56,159 Speaker 4: He well, ever since shortly after his father's death, peculiar 176 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,120 things have been going on at the abbey. 177 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:00,919 Speaker 6: What peculiar things? 178 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 2: It's too soon to talk about them now. 179 00:10:02,799 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 7: Oh what's he been doing? Locked up in that lonely 180 00:10:05,159 --> 00:10:06,840 old mausoleum all alone? 181 00:10:07,279 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 2: I can only tell you what the local gossip is 182 00:10:09,519 --> 00:10:10,679 if you insist on hearing it. 183 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 6: Oh, but I do, David, I must. 184 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: Well. 185 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 4: The local farm laborer that's been on the estate near 186 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,360 the house says that he's been wandering and walking about, 187 00:10:20,399 --> 00:10:24,559 carrying dusty, old, crumbling papers in his hand. That he's 188 00:10:24,879 --> 00:10:28,120 forcing open scores of old windows as if to let 189 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,480 the light into rooms. That have been closed for years. 190 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:33,440 You know, there must be some eighty rooms in the abbey, 191 00:10:33,799 --> 00:10:37,200 and that once towards evening he was even observed standing 192 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,919 on the very highest of the crumbling turrets, never ascended 193 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,080 before in recent memory, which is supposed to be inhabited 194 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,039 only by the ghosts of the ancient monks who once 195 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:48,279 possessed the buildings. 196 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:53,279 Speaker 2: What's he looking for, Anne? I don't know unless. 197 00:10:54,519 --> 00:10:59,519 Speaker 4: Unless what unless the old story is true your legend, 198 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,120 that's Stephen has lost his mind. 199 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 2: No, and where are you going? 200 00:11:05,159 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 6: I'm going to find out for myself, to prove you're 201 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:08,639 all wrong. 202 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:15,279 Speaker 2: I should have followed Anne, I suppose. 203 00:11:16,279 --> 00:11:18,879 Speaker 4: I thought perhaps it was better for her to find 204 00:11:18,879 --> 00:11:22,759 out the truth for herself, whatever the truth might be. 205 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:32,840 She came back later that evening, her face gray and haggard, 206 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:36,240 but composed. I saw her right up the drive and 207 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,639 went down to the stable to help her dismount. 208 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 2: Well, did you see Stephen. 209 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:48,879 Speaker 7: Yes, we're not going to be married right away. Of course, 210 00:11:48,919 --> 00:11:51,440 it's only decent to mourn father a while. 211 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:54,679 Speaker 2: This sounds strange. Is Stephen all right? 212 00:11:54,799 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 6: He will be? 213 00:11:55,919 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 2: You mean he is insane? No? 214 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,960 Speaker 7: He he has to go abroad for a few months 215 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:10,200 to settle, settle an affair of honor, and then he'll. 216 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:11,559 Speaker 6: Come back and we'll be married. 217 00:12:12,279 --> 00:12:12,919 Speaker 2: Are you sure? 218 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:14,840 Speaker 6: I hope I am. 219 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,159 Speaker 2: And there's nothing more to be said, David. 220 00:12:17,159 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 7: It's just going to take a little time. You'll must 221 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:24,519 go back to college and finish, and by that time 222 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:32,039 then and we'll see. It'll work out. It's got to 223 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:32,679 work out. 224 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 2: I couldn't get any more out of her. Stephen still 225 00:12:41,879 --> 00:12:42,879 refused to see me. 226 00:12:43,159 --> 00:12:46,159 Speaker 4: I went back to college, graduated, and returned. 227 00:12:47,399 --> 00:12:49,039 Speaker 2: My mother could tell me nothing new. 228 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,159 Speaker 4: I looked for Anne, and I found her in the garden, 229 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,279 gazing off towards the great bulk of Monkton Abbey. Her 230 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,480 face was drawn and white, and she was painfully thin. 231 00:13:00,039 --> 00:13:02,360 When she saw me, she jumped up to hug me 232 00:13:02,399 --> 00:13:02,840 with Joe. 233 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,559 Speaker 6: Oh, David, David, how good to have you back. 234 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,679 Speaker 2: He love, Prince, says, Let me look at you. You 235 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,480 don't look yourself. Is it still Stephen? 236 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:15,759 Speaker 6: Yes, Stephen. 237 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 2: You miss him so much. 238 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,840 Speaker 6: I used to have letters every day, then Lass and Lessen. 239 00:13:21,919 --> 00:13:25,559 Now I haven't heard from him in over a month. 240 00:13:25,799 --> 00:13:27,279 Speaker 2: Well perhaps it's just as well. 241 00:13:27,399 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 6: No, I love him. I'll never love anyone else. I'll 242 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:35,440 wait for him till till he finds what he has 243 00:13:35,519 --> 00:13:36,159 to find. 244 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 2: What is he doing in Europe? 245 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 6: I can't tell you that's his secret? 246 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,559 Speaker 2: Well was he when you last heard from him? 247 00:13:46,639 --> 00:13:52,200 Speaker 6: Italy and Naples? David? Aren't you going to Europe? 248 00:13:52,639 --> 00:13:55,559 Speaker 4: Yes, I've been planning to travel a bit before I 249 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:56,519 settle down to the law. 250 00:13:56,639 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 6: Then find him for me, please. 251 00:14:01,799 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 4: I might as well start at Naples as any other place. 252 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,320 Oh my best language is Italian anyway, all right? 253 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:09,519 Speaker 2: If I find him, then. 254 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,919 Speaker 7: Tell him, tell him I need him and I want him. 255 00:14:13,919 --> 00:14:16,039 I want him to come home and marry me. Tell 256 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,399 him it doesn't matter that We'll learn. 257 00:14:18,279 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 6: To live with this ghastly thing somehow. 258 00:14:24,799 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 4: And that was the most I could get out of 259 00:14:26,639 --> 00:14:30,200 my sister, whatever this ghastly thing was. 260 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 2: So I went to. 261 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,519 Speaker 4: Naples and his chance would have it. My first day 262 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,000 there I had news of Stephen. I ran into Chip Travers, 263 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:40,080 an old friend from school, now with the embassy. 264 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,840 Speaker 8: We had lunch together and I asked about Stephen. Heard 265 00:14:43,879 --> 00:14:47,559 of him, My dear Elmsley, we can't even. 266 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:48,399 Speaker 1: Comb him out of our hair. 267 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:49,519 Speaker 2: What do you mean? 268 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:52,799 Speaker 8: The man has an obsession, the sick one. I might 269 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:56,399 add frankly, I'd say that old Monkton has gone round 270 00:14:56,399 --> 00:14:56,799 the bend. 271 00:14:57,759 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: He's as mad as a hatter. 272 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 3: And so it seems that the black cloud of tragedy 273 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,799 does indeed hang over the house of Moncton, that madness 274 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:19,720 is an inherited trait. Yet and denies it. Is she 275 00:15:19,799 --> 00:15:23,799 blinded by love? And if not, what is the ghastly 276 00:15:23,919 --> 00:15:27,080 secret she and Stephen would have to spend their lives with? 277 00:15:28,159 --> 00:15:42,360 In a moment, I'll return with that too. Monomania an 278 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:47,080 insanity in which the psychotic thinking is confined to one 279 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:53,799 idea or group of ideas. Dictionary definition. And the whispers 280 00:15:53,799 --> 00:15:56,639 and rumors and accusations which have been voiced about the 281 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:00,360 Monkton family for centuries about the curse that eyes on 282 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:01,240 it have. 283 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 2: Tended to stress this particular. 284 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:07,679 Speaker 3: Form of madness. But what one idea or a group 285 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:12,679 of ideas? What is the dread obsession that has seized 286 00:16:12,759 --> 00:16:17,279 his forebears and apparently has reached into modern times to 287 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,399 fester now in Stephen Munkton's brain? 288 00:16:20,799 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 2: Why do you say that? And why should he be 289 00:16:23,159 --> 00:16:24,159 bothering the embassy? 290 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:26,879 Speaker 8: Well, you know, he had an uncle, a pretty bad lot. 291 00:16:26,919 --> 00:16:30,120 He's been traveling around Europe for years. Yes, Alfred mont 292 00:16:30,399 --> 00:16:34,200 that's our boy. Apparently one of his past misdeeds caught 293 00:16:34,279 --> 00:16:36,200 up with him and he got himself shot in a 294 00:16:36,279 --> 00:16:40,440 duel somewhere in Italy. News of it reached Stephen and 295 00:16:40,559 --> 00:16:42,200 he arrived here a few weeks ago. 296 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:43,679 Speaker 1: Since then has. 297 00:16:43,559 --> 00:16:46,519 Speaker 8: Been pestering living daylights out of us. The police, all 298 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:48,120 the authorities. 299 00:16:47,679 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 2: Have some action taken against the men who killed his uncle. 300 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 8: Lord. No, the police are trying to follow that up, naturally, 301 00:16:53,799 --> 00:16:57,840 since under present law it constitutes murder. The opponent and 302 00:16:57,919 --> 00:17:02,480 the seconds disappeared into thin air. But Munkton, by all 303 00:17:02,519 --> 00:17:05,640 evidence doesn't give a hang about them. All he wants 304 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:06,839 is his uncle's body. 305 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 2: Is that so impossible? 306 00:17:08,519 --> 00:17:08,799 Speaker 1: Well? 307 00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 2: Probably, I don't understand. 308 00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 8: Look, we only heard of this duel from a French 309 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:18,160 journal some weeks after it happened. Moncton's second died and 310 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:22,559 left some papers constituting a partial confession. But the one 311 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:27,759 vital thing not included was where the duel was fought. 312 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:33,559 So nobody knows where Alfred Monkton was buried, or if 313 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:34,880 he was buried at all. 314 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:51,440 Speaker 1: Yes, Stephen, how are you? David David Elmsley, how good 315 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,160 to see you, but you're you're not alone? 316 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:58,680 Speaker 4: Of course I am who would be? Oh if you 317 00:17:58,759 --> 00:18:01,039 mean Anne? No, I'm sorry she isn't. 318 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:06,519 Speaker 1: Here, Nor I didn't mean Anne. Uh. Uh, come in, 319 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:10,160 come in, thank you, Sit, sit down, sit down up 320 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:14,319 there by the reading lamp, by the fire. Uh. You 321 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,759 must tell me all about uh about home and Anne. 322 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:24,279 Speaker 4: As I crossed the shadowed room lit only by the 323 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:28,720 one lamp, my spine was still cold from that peculiar 324 00:18:28,839 --> 00:18:31,920 moment at the door, the moment when Stephen at first 325 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:34,920 so obviously glad to see me, and let his eyes 326 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,119 wander for a moment and stay fixed at a spot 327 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:45,119 over my shoulder, as though someone stood there behind me, watching, 328 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:47,119 waiting for what. 329 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,920 Speaker 1: David, what brings you here to Naples? 330 00:18:53,279 --> 00:18:53,680 Speaker 2: Oh? 331 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,079 Speaker 4: Part Touring the Continent? Part I promise to Anne. 332 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:01,880 Speaker 2: You haven't written her in a long time. No, she's 333 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:03,680 pretty heartbroken, Stephen. 334 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,519 Speaker 1: No more than I I I. I haven't written because 335 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,160 because for all my searchings I've I have nothing to report. 336 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:13,559 Speaker 2: She sent you a message, Stephen. 337 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,440 Speaker 1: Oh, may may I see it? Well? 338 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 4: It's a verbal one. She was afraid of letters who 339 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:19,839 were going astray. 340 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:21,079 Speaker 1: What's the message? 341 00:19:21,599 --> 00:19:23,200 Speaker 2: She said? Tell him? 342 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 4: I need him and I want him. Tell him to 343 00:19:26,039 --> 00:19:28,759 come home and marry me. Tell him it doesn't matter. 344 00:19:28,839 --> 00:19:32,200 We'll learn to live with this ghastly thing somehow. 345 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:38,359 Speaker 2: Yeah, she's just don't believes what that. I'm not mad. 346 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:40,480 I don't quite know what you mean. 347 00:19:40,759 --> 00:19:44,799 Speaker 1: Well, sometimes sometimes I I begin to wonder myself. 348 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 4: Stephen, Stephen, what it is your What is it you're 349 00:19:47,279 --> 00:19:48,519 looking at over my shoulder? 350 00:19:49,039 --> 00:19:53,880 Speaker 1: There's nothing there, there's nothing that you can see. But 351 00:19:56,079 --> 00:19:59,279 since you're here, since Anne, since you, you have a 352 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:04,079 right to know. Only before I tell you no, no, no, 353 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,240 don't leave your chair, I must I wanna make an 354 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,200 alteration a d Do you mind sitting in a strong light? 355 00:20:11,599 --> 00:20:13,400 Speaker 2: No, it's quite dark in here anyway. 356 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: Well, then just wait a moment. 357 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:21,839 Speaker 4: I won't pretend I was well, ah, what's the word uneasy? 358 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:22,880 Speaker 2: Shaken? 359 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:28,359 Speaker 4: Or to be totally candid? Frightened, especially as I watched 360 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,799 my friend's preparation, with the extra light, the wild glitter 361 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:35,640 of his eyes, and the dark shadows beneath them. 362 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: From an adjoining room. 363 00:20:36,759 --> 00:20:39,839 Speaker 4: He brought a large reading lamp, then two candles from 364 00:20:39,839 --> 00:20:42,559 a table and two more from the mantle, placing them 365 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:43,480 between us. 366 00:20:44,279 --> 00:20:45,799 Speaker 2: His hand trembled so much. 367 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 4: I had to light them for him, and at his 368 00:20:47,799 --> 00:20:51,640 direction take the shade off the reading lamp at Lancet. 369 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,960 He seemed satisfied, and we sat down. He started his 370 00:20:55,039 --> 00:20:56,720 story without hesitation. 371 00:20:57,559 --> 00:21:00,400 Speaker 1: Has Anne told you anything of why our marriage is delayed? 372 00:21:00,599 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 6: Why I'm here? 373 00:21:01,599 --> 00:21:04,799 Speaker 1: No? I came here to find the body of my 374 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:06,160 uncle Alfred. 375 00:21:05,839 --> 00:21:08,599 Speaker 2: Yes, I know that much, and the jewel, and that 376 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:11,920 no one knows where it took place. Who told you? 377 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,559 There chip travers and attachated the embassy. 378 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:18,640 Speaker 4: He said something about your uncle's second having made a confession. 379 00:21:18,759 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, his name was Foulon. He died in Paris 380 00:21:22,279 --> 00:21:25,599 two days before I located him. The confession he left 381 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,160 failed to tell us where the duel had taken place. 382 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 2: Yes, but he must have given you some idea. 383 00:21:30,279 --> 00:21:32,759 Speaker 1: If only he had. Uh. I I have the whole 384 00:21:32,799 --> 00:21:34,319 document here y you can read it later. 385 00:21:34,759 --> 00:21:35,880 Speaker 2: Was it fought honestly? 386 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:36,559 Speaker 6: Well? 387 00:21:36,599 --> 00:21:40,160 Speaker 1: Apparently, if any duel can be considered. So they they 388 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:44,319 tossed for first fire. My uncle lost. They were placed 389 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:47,599 thirty feet apart. The winner of the toss advanced ten 390 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,680 paces and fired. Had he missed, my uncle could have 391 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:52,519 walked right up to the other and shot him through 392 00:21:52,559 --> 00:21:56,319 the heart or head as he desired, but he didn't miss. No, 393 00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:58,920 my uncle was dead before he hit the ground. 394 00:21:59,839 --> 00:22:00,279 Speaker 2: N it's here. 395 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 1: Foul then states that he tore a leaf from his 396 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,319 pocket book describing the circumstances of the death and pinned 397 00:22:06,319 --> 00:22:10,160 it to my uncle's chest. Then they started with their 398 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,279 plan to dispose of my uncle's corpse. 399 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,359 Speaker 2: Will go on, Stephen, go on? 400 00:22:15,759 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 1: Uh, I can't. That's where it ended, David. I've I've 401 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,119 haunted Heaven knows, I've thrown money around like a drunken sailor, 402 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,599 had a rich one at that. But I don't know 403 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,119 the country, I don't know the language. I'm insulted and 404 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:34,759 laughed at, almost to my face. 405 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 2: Stephen, Wait a minute, can I ask a couple of questions? 406 00:22:38,559 --> 00:22:42,359 Of course? How often have you seen your uncle twice 407 00:22:42,599 --> 00:22:45,319 when when I was a child? Did you like him 408 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:46,880 that much? Like him? 409 00:22:47,319 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: Sh I hated him as the family did. He He 410 00:22:51,319 --> 00:22:53,920 disgraced our name wherever he went. He was a liar, 411 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:55,640 a cheat, for all I. 412 00:22:55,599 --> 00:22:58,519 Speaker 4: Know, a murderer I gathered from my friend. That's sort 413 00:22:58,559 --> 00:23:00,160 of the official attitude, too. 414 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,200 Speaker 1: I don't care about their attitude. 415 00:23:02,559 --> 00:23:04,759 Speaker 4: What I'm trying to say is maybe you are being 416 00:23:04,799 --> 00:23:07,519 given the run around, but maybe they don't think you're 417 00:23:07,559 --> 00:23:08,240 in earnest. 418 00:23:09,079 --> 00:23:12,920 Speaker 1: Not in earnest, Come with me, I'll convince you. 419 00:23:13,319 --> 00:23:18,599 Speaker 4: Or He leaped to his feet, grabbing a candle, and 420 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,960 hustled me into the next room. On one side of 421 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,960 his bed was a packing case at least seven feet long. 422 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,079 Speaker 2: The top was open so that I could see. The 423 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:30,000 case contained a. 424 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 4: Lead coffin magnificently emblazoned with the monked in arms and 425 00:23:35,079 --> 00:23:39,319 on a plate the name Alfred Moncton, with his age 426 00:23:39,759 --> 00:23:42,680 and the manner of his death inscribed underneath. 427 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:48,559 Speaker 1: Now I must tell you the secret so that you 428 00:23:48,559 --> 00:23:52,160 don't pick me completely mad. What is it? 429 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:56,319 Speaker 4: You're looking over my shoulder again as if look at me, Stephen? 430 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:01,880 Speaker 1: Please yesh, yes, if you will just take your seat 431 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:03,559 again with the lights between us. 432 00:24:04,759 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 2: Ah. 433 00:24:05,759 --> 00:24:08,200 Speaker 1: So, now. 434 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,440 Speaker 2: Now you know the Monkton's reputation, Stephen. 435 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:14,400 Speaker 4: Let's spare ourselves all the old wives tales. 436 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,759 Speaker 1: I can't. You must be part of it. Now do 437 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:22,000 you also know or have you heard the family prophecy? No? 438 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,720 I can show you the original fading parchment. I will, 439 00:24:25,759 --> 00:24:29,680 but for the moment it's easier to recite it. When 440 00:24:29,759 --> 00:24:33,759 in abbey's vault a place waits for one of Moncton's race, 441 00:24:35,039 --> 00:24:39,640 When that forlorn one shall lie graveless under open sky, 442 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,759 beggared of six feet of earth, the lord of acres 443 00:24:43,759 --> 00:24:49,039 from his birth. That shall be a certain sign of 444 00:24:49,079 --> 00:24:54,200 the end on Moncton's line from mortal men. From light 445 00:24:54,240 --> 00:25:00,680 of day, the last monkt shall pass away, now Stephen 446 00:25:00,799 --> 00:25:04,119 for a thousand years, at no matter what cost, no 447 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,559 matter where he fell or how he died, at at 448 00:25:06,559 --> 00:25:10,960 no matter what cost, a sacrifice. In the vault under 449 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:13,880 the abbey at Winkett lies every one of my ancestors. 450 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,240 The succession of the dead in Moncton Valley vault has 451 00:25:17,279 --> 00:25:23,400 never been broken till now I can see by your 452 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:25,279 face you you wanna ask me how I can believe 453 00:25:25,319 --> 00:25:27,559 in a dogg orrel prophecy written and uttered in an 454 00:25:27,599 --> 00:25:32,079 age of superstition and ignorance. I'll tell you why I do, 455 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:40,319 Because behind you, right at this moment, as he has 456 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:47,839 ever since you came, confirming my belief, stands Alfred Monkton himself. 457 00:25:51,759 --> 00:25:54,799 Speaker 4: Something about the tone of his voice, the fixity of 458 00:25:54,839 --> 00:25:58,119 his stare his own total belief in what he saw 459 00:25:59,079 --> 00:26:03,480 kept me from turning my head at that moment, I 460 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:08,559 too believed that if I looked over my shoulder, I 461 00:26:08,599 --> 00:26:10,119 would see. 462 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:16,079 Speaker 1: He stands behind you, death glare in his eyes. As 463 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:19,000 I've seen him, I've seen him walking and sleeping from 464 00:26:19,039 --> 00:26:20,359 the moment he was shot. 465 00:26:20,759 --> 00:26:23,119 Speaker 2: What do you mean from the moment he was shot? 466 00:26:23,839 --> 00:26:26,680 Speaker 1: How could you when when your father whisked Anne away 467 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,759 from me to Spain. I was at loose ends, waiting 468 00:26:29,799 --> 00:26:31,400 for Anne to come of age so that we could 469 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:34,000 be married, and I had to fill my days with 470 00:26:34,039 --> 00:26:36,519 something to do, and I was in a mood to 471 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,799 clean a specter's throw away the past. I decided to 472 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,920 look in every nook and cranny of the abbey, clear 473 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,480 out the debris, search my family history, and try to 474 00:26:47,559 --> 00:26:49,880 lay the ghost for once and for all. 475 00:26:50,319 --> 00:26:51,279 Speaker 2: What did you find? 476 00:26:51,799 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: Great cabinets and iron clasped chests, filled with loathsome secrets 477 00:26:57,039 --> 00:27:03,119 of horrors and darkness. D I suppose we were neither 478 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:05,880 better nor worse than all medieval barons. But the things 479 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:12,640 I found, well, that's dead and gone. I thought, it's 480 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:15,640 the past which I'm going to cut myself free of 481 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,640 and start a new future. I'd worked myself to the 482 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,359 highest turret by this time, and I was choked with dust. 483 00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:27,559 I stepped out just before sunset, choosing my footing carefully, 484 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:35,400 watching the setting sun and thinking of Anne. And suddenly, yes, 485 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,440 standing in front of me, beyond the battlements in mid air, 486 00:27:44,079 --> 00:27:50,480 was the figure of Alfred Monkton, faintly luminous. 487 00:27:51,279 --> 00:27:56,319 Speaker 2: As he stands behind you. Now did he speak? 488 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:57,440 Speaker 1: No? 489 00:27:59,279 --> 00:28:03,799 Speaker 4: Was this before or the news of the Duwel reached Wincott. 490 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:06,319 Speaker 2: Two weeks I. 491 00:28:08,559 --> 00:28:10,279 Speaker 1: Didn't know the date of it then as I do now. 492 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:16,039 It was March fourteenth, the same day as I stood 493 00:28:16,079 --> 00:28:20,599 on the battlement, the very moment the bullet entered his 494 00:28:20,799 --> 00:28:26,079 side and killed him. And now you know why I 495 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:29,279 dare not marry your sister, not till I fill the 496 00:28:29,279 --> 00:28:32,039 empty place in the mountain abbey with the body of 497 00:28:32,039 --> 00:28:38,960 my uncle, and then, bright God, I will burn it 498 00:28:39,039 --> 00:28:44,759 to the ground. 499 00:28:46,079 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 3: So now we know what the monomania of Stephen Muntain's is. 500 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:54,599 But can it be cured by finding his uncle's body 501 00:28:55,359 --> 00:28:59,240 and the other means he plans, or is it doomed 502 00:28:59,319 --> 00:29:03,880 by the ancient prophecy that from mortal ken from light 503 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:05,680 of day he's the. 504 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,039 Speaker 2: Last Monkton to pass away. 505 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:24,559 Speaker 3: I'll return shortly with Act three. Poor David Elmsley caught 506 00:29:24,599 --> 00:29:28,400 between his desire for his sister's happiness and a friend 507 00:29:28,519 --> 00:29:31,799 who held it in his hand, but suffered from what 508 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,240 seemed to be a hereditary and incurable malady. 509 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 2: But was it incurable? 510 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 3: Was it only an aberration which could be disposed of 511 00:29:43,799 --> 00:29:46,799 by the simple means of finding an errant corpse. 512 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,519 Speaker 4: After I left Stephen that night, I sat and thought 513 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:54,480 long and hard. 514 00:29:55,319 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 2: I knew Stephen could no longer go this alone. 515 00:29:58,559 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 4: Besides, while I could not believe the phantom, I was 516 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,440 intrigued by the story of the jewel and the missing corpse. 517 00:30:06,359 --> 00:30:09,079 I read all the papers Stephen had given me carefully 518 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:10,240 before going to bed. 519 00:30:12,799 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 2: By the next morning I had. 520 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 4: Seen Chip, the police and all the authorities concerned and 521 00:30:17,759 --> 00:30:18,680 made my decision. 522 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:22,599 Speaker 1: David, I thought you deserted me. 523 00:30:22,839 --> 00:30:26,039 Speaker 4: Quite the contrary. We have plans to make and a 524 00:30:26,119 --> 00:30:26,880 journey to take. 525 00:30:27,079 --> 00:30:28,799 Speaker 1: Well, what is it you have in mind? 526 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,720 Speaker 2: First? Here are your papers. I've talked with all the authorities. 527 00:30:33,039 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 4: As you know, there's no language barrier for me, so 528 00:30:35,519 --> 00:30:37,640 I now know all that they have done. 529 00:30:38,559 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 1: Nothing for all the money I've spent not. 530 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 2: True, just misguided, I believe now. 531 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:47,240 Speaker 4: Look, the jew was arranged here in Naples two days 532 00:30:47,279 --> 00:30:48,160 before it took place. 533 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:49,680 Speaker 2: The police have. 534 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 4: Concentrated on trying to find counselink Low, the other principal, 535 00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:57,880 and his second, so they have searched the road towards Rome. 536 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 2: I agree with you that they were thorough. Where would 537 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,400 you search since the route was so round about, and 538 00:31:04,599 --> 00:31:06,000 since they wanted to be out of. 539 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 4: The Neapolitan states. I think the jewel was actually fought 540 00:31:10,119 --> 00:31:13,480 not far from here. All the rest was a blind 541 00:31:13,519 --> 00:31:14,480 to circle. 542 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:15,519 Speaker 2: Back but where. 543 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:20,000 Speaker 4: I'm not clairvoyant, but I think we ought to start 544 00:31:20,079 --> 00:31:22,319 looking as close by as possible. 545 00:31:23,279 --> 00:31:24,759 Speaker 2: You're right, I can feel it. 546 00:31:25,519 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: We're going to find him and take him home, and 547 00:31:28,559 --> 00:31:30,880 at last this long nightmare will be over. 548 00:31:34,799 --> 00:31:35,599 Speaker 2: Poor Stephen. 549 00:31:36,119 --> 00:31:40,599 Speaker 4: He built his expectations so high. For three days, we 550 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:42,960 coursed the neighborhood without success. 551 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:43,920 Speaker 2: Each day. 552 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,559 Speaker 4: Is hope diminished in traveling through that rough country, even 553 00:31:47,599 --> 00:31:48,079 by mule. 554 00:31:48,599 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 2: I was beginning to. 555 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,880 Speaker 4: Realize how few physical resources my poor friend had left. 556 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,720 Speaker 2: So on the fourth day I went alone. 557 00:31:57,799 --> 00:32:00,880 Speaker 4: There was a pitiless sun that day, and I gradually 558 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,279 ascended into a deeper woods over the stony ground. By 559 00:32:04,279 --> 00:32:08,319 the time my watch suggested that my return, I suddenly 560 00:32:08,359 --> 00:32:10,599 came out of the thick greenery and saw before me 561 00:32:11,039 --> 00:32:15,119 an ancient monastery half way crumbling into ruins. On my 562 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:19,319 way to it, I was oppressed by an overbearing odor, 563 00:32:19,319 --> 00:32:19,920 A smell it. 564 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:21,960 Speaker 2: Suggested only one thing to me. 565 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,160 Speaker 4: I turned my mule off the path to a building 566 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,559 from which the odor came. It was closed, save for 567 00:32:29,799 --> 00:32:33,359 a jagged hole where the roof had broken in. By 568 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,799 standing up in my stirrups, I could glimpse almost to 569 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:43,759 the floor a sight of horror grasped my gut. Stretched 570 00:32:43,799 --> 00:32:47,240 on a rude table supported by trestles was the decomposing 571 00:32:47,319 --> 00:32:51,680 body of what had once been a man. The sheet 572 00:32:52,039 --> 00:32:56,160 that had once covered it rotted away. Suppressing my desire 573 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,960 to scream, I cleared my head with a pinch of snuff. 574 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:01,799 Speaker 2: Then I rode the mule down. 575 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,519 Speaker 4: The hill to the monastery, and by its ancient gait, 576 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:06,559 pulled on the bell cord. 577 00:33:09,359 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: What is it you please to want? 578 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 2: I'm a traveler who we live in a miserable place. 579 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:18,519 We have nothing to show travelers. 580 00:33:18,599 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 4: I don't come to see anything except what I have 581 00:33:22,039 --> 00:33:22,920 already seen. 582 00:33:23,519 --> 00:33:25,559 Speaker 2: Will you please come out or must I force my 583 00:33:25,599 --> 00:33:25,920 way in? 584 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:27,839 Speaker 1: Are you alone? Yes? 585 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 2: Quite alone? Oh reman with you? 586 00:33:31,319 --> 00:33:35,559 Speaker 1: No none, remanta were the grace of God. 587 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 2: I have just seen a gruesome and horrible sight. 588 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:46,079 Speaker 4: In that outbuilding back there is the decomposing body. 589 00:33:45,799 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 2: Of an unburied man. 590 00:33:47,599 --> 00:33:49,559 Speaker 1: M an ugly sight. 591 00:33:50,279 --> 00:33:52,400 Speaker 2: Do you know about it? Everything? 592 00:33:53,799 --> 00:34:02,119 Speaker 1: Everything? Some months ago, you're at our poor meal in 593 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:07,559 the refectory and we hear of a sudden bang, M 594 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:12,559 a gun. We thought it to be a hunter. 595 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,519 Speaker 2: Where did the sun come from? From the meadow beyond 596 00:34:16,599 --> 00:34:18,400 the trees? And that's all you heard of? 597 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:24,280 Speaker 1: Patient, The old goes slow, Let me see. Oh yeah, yes, 598 00:34:25,159 --> 00:34:28,960 there was a ring at this gate, or the devil 599 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:34,039 of a ring. And the father Supperior, said, go, brother, 600 00:34:35,039 --> 00:34:40,440 see who it is. Hum. I opened the door, and 601 00:34:40,639 --> 00:34:46,119 lying on the threshold was a man dead, with black 602 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:51,880 eyes open, staring to the sky's blood soaked shirt. 603 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,079 Speaker 2: The same man who lies out there, the same. But 604 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,159 why did you not give him a decent burier? 605 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:00,840 Speaker 5: I think I can answer that, Sir, I am the 606 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:02,519 father superior of this monastery. 607 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:03,599 Speaker 1: You may leave us. 608 00:35:03,599 --> 00:35:08,079 Speaker 5: Brother, I have been hoping and praying that the Lord 609 00:35:08,119 --> 00:35:12,800 would send you me. Yes, are you not some relative 610 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,000 of the deceased? Are you not seeking him? 611 00:35:15,679 --> 00:35:19,039 Speaker 4: I myself am not a relative, but his nephew is nearby. 612 00:35:19,079 --> 00:35:21,239 Speaker 2: Infandi, Yes, I. 613 00:35:21,239 --> 00:35:24,519 Speaker 4: Was seeking him, But you still haven't answered my question. 614 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,440 Speaker 5: This piece of paper pinned to the man's chest when 615 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:29,039 we found him. 616 00:35:29,679 --> 00:35:32,800 Speaker 2: Do you eat French? I'm afraid with difficulty. Then I 617 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:34,079 shall translate it for you. 618 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,760 Speaker 5: This paper is attached to the body of an Englishman, 619 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:44,360 mister Alfred Moncton. He has been shot and killed fairly 620 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:48,079 in a duel. Since we must fly to escape the law, 621 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,519 the body is placed at the door of this monastery 622 00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:54,199 to receive burial at the hands of its inmates. 623 00:35:55,039 --> 00:35:59,800 Speaker 2: It is signed only the initial F, of course his second. 624 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:04,199 Speaker 5: But father, why haven't you buried him? The man is 625 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:09,079 not of our faith. He died unshriven. This is consecrated 626 00:36:09,079 --> 00:36:11,199 ground that we are, not, by the laws of our order, 627 00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:12,679 permitted to leave its confines. 628 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:16,440 Speaker 2: We did what we could. I had sent a missive. 629 00:36:16,199 --> 00:36:18,159 Speaker 5: To Rome by those who were bringing our food once 630 00:36:18,159 --> 00:36:20,840 a month, asking permission for my superiors to take what 631 00:36:21,039 --> 00:36:23,400 action they deemed right and sanctified. 632 00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:26,119 Speaker 2: But as yet I have had no answer. 633 00:36:27,199 --> 00:36:32,480 Speaker 5: Ah, has this nephew papers to prove his relationship. 634 00:36:32,159 --> 00:36:34,400 Speaker 2: Everything, to prove it beyond a doubt. 635 00:36:34,559 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 5: Then I pray to you, my son, bring him to 636 00:36:37,519 --> 00:36:40,760 take his uncle and bury him, so that he may 637 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:41,760 be commended to God. 638 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:49,079 Speaker 4: The next ten days were a fever of activity. I 639 00:36:49,199 --> 00:36:52,679 arranged to have em bombers with what chemical assistance was needed. 640 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,840 Stephen wrote immediately to Anne, warning to expect him home 641 00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:00,199 and that all was well. They would be married as 642 00:37:00,199 --> 00:37:02,840 soon as he returned, and placed the casket with his 643 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:06,440 uncle in the vault. Only one small hitch seemed to 644 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,559 halt our arrangements. There was no space on any merchant 645 00:37:10,639 --> 00:37:14,400 vessel leaving Naples. That was quickly solved by our chartering 646 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,880 a stout little brig and within a fortnight Stephen, myself 647 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:22,039 and uncle Alfred, casketed and boxed securely in his crate, 648 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:23,320 were on our way home. 649 00:37:24,159 --> 00:37:26,280 Speaker 2: But the end was not yet in sight. 650 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,280 Speaker 1: I can almost smell England. 651 00:37:33,039 --> 00:37:35,960 Speaker 2: How much longer do you supposed? The captain says, that's 652 00:37:36,039 --> 00:37:39,320 up to the wind. Two days for at most. Can't 653 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:43,239 believe it's almost over it is. Tell me does the 654 00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:44,360 phantom still appear to you? 655 00:37:44,519 --> 00:37:44,599 Speaker 6: Oh? 656 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:47,920 Speaker 2: Yes, didn't I tell you, he followed me everywhere. 657 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:50,559 Speaker 1: I sha'n't lose him till the empty place is filled 658 00:37:50,559 --> 00:37:51,840 in the abbed vault. 659 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:57,159 Speaker 2: An entire David, good friend. I think I'll go below 660 00:37:57,199 --> 00:38:00,920 for a while, till later a good rest. 661 00:38:01,199 --> 00:38:06,039 Speaker 8: Your troubles are over, I'm afraid not quite, mister Elmsley, 662 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:08,639 Why Captain you startled me? 663 00:38:09,119 --> 00:38:09,760 Speaker 2: I didn't see you. 664 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,440 Speaker 8: I were waiting behind the bulkhead. I wanted to talk 665 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:19,199 to you alone, and mister Elmsley, we have a serious problem. 666 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:20,920 Speaker 2: And yes, what is that you see? 667 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:25,000 Speaker 8: There's a Maltese boy aboard a bat sort. He's told 668 00:38:25,079 --> 00:38:28,760 the whole crew that the packing case in mister Monkton's 669 00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:33,199 cabin contains a dead body. Now and we're in for 670 00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:36,480 some rough weather. There's a squall almost on top of us. 671 00:38:36,559 --> 00:38:39,920 It'll it'll give us a breather, but after it's over, 672 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:45,440 you have one or two choices. Either tell the crew 673 00:38:45,559 --> 00:38:48,119 the boy is lying and I'll hand him up to 674 00:38:48,199 --> 00:38:53,079 the rope, or throw that packing case overboard if it 675 00:38:53,159 --> 00:38:54,840 does contain a body. 676 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:57,679 Speaker 2: And suppose I refuse both conditions, then. 677 00:38:57,679 --> 00:39:00,440 Speaker 8: We'll have a muty on our hands and a box 678 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:02,920 will go over Or I'll have to put in for 679 00:39:03,039 --> 00:39:08,840 the nearest. I'm ti to discuss that. Now get on below, 680 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:10,760 you'll only be in the way here. 681 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:16,639 Speaker 2: I scarcely made it blow death squally hit us. 682 00:39:17,599 --> 00:39:20,679 Speaker 4: Brig gets strained and groaned, and we can feel her 683 00:39:20,679 --> 00:39:24,679 whirl about it, and came a deafening crash, and the. 684 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:27,719 Speaker 2: Foot of water flowed into the chapel. He was sent 685 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:31,760 hurtling to one side, and could feel her suddenly settled 686 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:32,920 that way, yish and a. 687 00:39:33,119 --> 00:39:39,119 Speaker 9: Cad the stern Pa, she's broke, stol. Make you read 688 00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:42,800 it a pie or a bind? The name shine, I 689 00:39:43,199 --> 00:39:46,199 see a hard not without him? 690 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:48,119 Speaker 2: Are you out of your mind? 691 00:39:48,159 --> 00:39:50,559 Speaker 9: It takes six men even funds that cas it. 692 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:51,760 Speaker 2: You'll go, David. 693 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:54,239 Speaker 1: You don't talk about it about me. I have no 694 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:56,400 future in this coming yard, dear. 695 00:39:56,519 --> 00:39:59,840 Speaker 2: I stay with this ship. If she thinks I say what, 696 00:40:00,599 --> 00:40:12,480 I'm learned to lie, to kill yourself. The rest was madness. 697 00:40:13,639 --> 00:40:16,440 Speaker 4: After I knocked Stephen out, I got him on deck. 698 00:40:16,679 --> 00:40:20,199 Speaker 2: Somehow he came to and he was like a maniac. 699 00:40:21,079 --> 00:40:23,119 Speaker 4: It took five of us to get him aboard the 700 00:40:23,159 --> 00:40:25,880 long boat and hold him as we pulled away from 701 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:30,880 the ship. Swab passed as suddenly as it had come up, 702 00:40:31,679 --> 00:40:34,559 And by that time the brig dragged down by her 703 00:40:34,599 --> 00:40:38,039 broken mast and sail, and the water she had shipped, 704 00:40:38,159 --> 00:40:42,199 sank to the bottom, taking Alfred Moncton with her, and 705 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,079 as she went Stephen sagged. 706 00:40:44,679 --> 00:40:48,159 Speaker 2: In her arms and lay quiet and hopeless. 707 00:40:56,039 --> 00:40:58,079 Speaker 4: I'm sorry, I'm too late, Anne, I didn't get your 708 00:40:58,119 --> 00:40:58,760 message in time. 709 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:02,280 Speaker 6: It doesn't mat a date. He spoke of you at 710 00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:02,760 the last. 711 00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:06,760 Speaker 7: He was quite lucid about what a good friend you 712 00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:09,599 are and how hard you tried to save him. 713 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:14,519 Speaker 4: I'm glad he's gone. It's been a terrible year for you, princess. 714 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:16,440 Why you ever married him? 715 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:19,559 Speaker 7: I loved him and he had to have some one 716 00:41:19,599 --> 00:41:20,440 to take care of him. 717 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:21,679 Speaker 2: Oh, he was quite mad. 718 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:26,559 Speaker 6: He was ill, That's all. He lies there, David. 719 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:31,400 Speaker 4: Next to the empty spot where Alfred Monkton's casket should lie. 720 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:33,840 Speaker 2: The prophecy fulfilled. 721 00:41:34,079 --> 00:41:38,159 Speaker 7: Who know, No, Stephen was not the last of the Mounkins. 722 00:41:39,039 --> 00:41:41,119 You see, I'm carrying his child. 723 00:41:41,639 --> 00:41:43,000 Speaker 2: You must be mad too. 724 00:41:43,199 --> 00:41:48,440 Speaker 7: No, No, for some day he will fill the empty spot, 725 00:41:48,519 --> 00:41:52,679 and the nonsense will be gone. Forever our grandchildren could 726 00:41:52,679 --> 00:41:54,960 come out in the sun. The curse will be dead. 727 00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:59,159 Speaker 6: And this family will at last escape from the heritage 728 00:41:59,199 --> 00:42:00,840 of being the man Moncton's. 729 00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:09,199 Speaker 2: So goes the story. 730 00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:15,039 Speaker 3: Anne Moncton never married again, but she did bear her child. 731 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:20,039 Was she right that the taint was ever removed? Or 732 00:42:20,079 --> 00:42:25,119 had love betrayed her into perpetuating a legend? That is 733 00:42:25,159 --> 00:42:41,960 something only time can tell. I'll be back shortly. Just 734 00:42:42,119 --> 00:42:46,480 one addendum to our tale. Shortly after the events in it, 735 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:51,559 a raging fire swept the abbey, and its ancient stone structure, 736 00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:56,079 weakened by the flaming heat, and its own antiquity, collapsed 737 00:42:56,199 --> 00:43:00,920 in a mass of rubble. Fortunately, Missus Moncton and her 738 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:04,840 young boy Stephen were away visiting her brother, mister David 739 00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:08,360 Elmsley and his wife in America, where David had gone 740 00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:12,280 to live. As far as I know, their heirs still 741 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:16,880 live here, happily, I hope, and especially for the Muncton 742 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:23,679 family ever afterwards. Our cast included Christopher Tabori, Marion Soudis, 743 00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:28,239 Russell Horton, Ken Harvey, and Paul Hecht. The entire production 744 00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:30,400 was under the direction of Hyman Brown.