Lights Out - "State Executioner" (Old Time Radio, 1937)

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In England, during the reign of King George III, Samuel
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Jones makes his living as a state executioner, bound by
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profession and identity to the gallows. His career has made
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him feared and prosperous. Now, alone with his thoughts, Jones
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finds his certainty unsettled by a recent condemned prisoner and
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troubling withheld evidence. His reflections return to the work that
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has defined his life, as questions of conscience, duty, and
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consequence press upon him. From NBC, Lights Out presents episode 41,
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State Executioner, written by Arch Obler and originally broadcast March 17th, 1937. Now,
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back to the golden age of radio. The Golden Age
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of Radio.
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Let's go back tonight to another time, the time of
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King George III of England. But our story tonight is
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not of monarchy. It's the story of an ordinary man
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by the name of Samuel Jones, who had the extraordinary
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profession of state executioner. Tonight's Lights Out presents another psychological drama,
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a play in which the principal part is taken not by.
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The character himself, but by his thoughts. The voice you
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are about to hear is that of the thoughts of
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one Samuel Jones, the state executioner for His Majesty George III.
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He sits alone in a dismal room, and these are
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his thoughts. I want to be dead, dead, dead. Do
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you feel anything when you're dead? Are you hungry, are
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you cold, are you tired when you're dead? No?
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When I'm dead, I have peace, peace. I've got to
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have peace, kill myself. Yes, bullet in my heart. The pain.
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I don't like pain, but it can't hurt. They say
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it doesn't hurt, only hanging hurts.
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I know it does.
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I've seen their faces when they cut.
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Them down, purple, black.
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I've seen their faces when the masks came off and
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there's pain in them. Pain that twists their faces, grinds
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their teeth and gives them living hell until at last
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they die. That's why I've got to use this pistol
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to kill myself.
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I can't stand pain. All I want is peace. Peace.
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It's getting late. I've got to do it quick before
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they get here. They're much faster than they did, but
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they get here quick enough. I've got to be dead
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when they come in through that door. They can't bother
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the dead in their grave. I'll be dead, dead, deep,
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deep in the grave. Why should they blame me? I
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only did my duty. Someone's got to be the hangman.
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Someone's got.
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That's what he said to me that night.
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That's what his lordship said to me 20 years ago
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at Buzz. He said... Samuel Jones, eh? Yes, Your Worship.
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What makes you think you can do this work? Oh,
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I just know, Your Worship. I know all about hanging, sir.
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Everything there is to know.
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Well... Hemp rope's best, sir, hemp rope.
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But each rope's got to be fresh and new for
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every job.
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And you've got to keep it soap-stoned and always in
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a cool, dry place.
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Well, you do know something about it.
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Oh, yes, sir.
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Then there's the short drop and the long drop.
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The long drop's better, sir.
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I know it is.
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Eh?
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It breaks their necks, sir. Every time it breaks their necks.
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All right, I'll give you your chance. We're having a
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hanging here tomorrow. I'll let you do it. If all
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goes well, I'll recommend you to the prison board. If
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all goes well. All did go well.
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Why not? And there I was, executioner for his majesty.
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Five guineas, a broken neck. 777 hangings in 20 years.
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777 broken necks and mine the hands from the trap.
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777 times. And now the hand's got a pistol in it.
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When they reach here, when they knock on that door,
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I'll press the trigger and so I won't have them
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face them. None of them. 777 broken necks and no
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one knew that I was the man who did it.
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Not even she knew it. Ellen, my own wife, not
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even she. I met her, married her, and she didn't know.
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Until that day. Infernal day, that meddling fool nosing around.
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It's the truth. I'm telling you, Mrs. Jones, it's God's
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big judge. No, no, there must be some mistake.
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No mistake at all, Mrs.
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Jones. No mistake at all. My husband told me. And
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he never makes mistakes. Not my husband. What did you say?
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State executioner.
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You know your husband's... Oh, don't you know?
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Please, I don't know what you're talking about. Look here,
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look here. Don't you know what your husband does? You
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mean the business he's in?
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Business?
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Aye, hanging.
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The business.
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Hanging?
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Hanging.
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On a rope. But what is Samuel to do with those?
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Mrs.
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Jones, are you saying you don't know that Samuel's the hangman?
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You must be crazy.
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Oh, sir, I'm crazy, am I? Well, he's the hangman.
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And no mistake about it. He's not. And I think
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he is.
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He's not.
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He's not.
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Get out of here. Get out.
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Get out.
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Oh, now, you don't have to be. Well, here he is.
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Ask him yourself.
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Oh, Sam.
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What's going on here? What's the matter? What is it, Ellen?
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Oh, Sam, this woman.
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What about this woman?
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What?
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I've done is to tell the hard truth.
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Oh, Sam, she says, she says.
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Says what?
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What?
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All I said was that you were the Angsman, as
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you are. Get out of here. No, just a minute.
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Get out, get out. All right, I'll go, I'll go.
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Say one more word about me and I'll kill you.
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You hear me?
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I'll kill you.
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Meddling fools. Meddling fools.
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Sam.
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You shouldn't have talked. You're crazy. I don't kill. I
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don't condemn them.
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You kill them. I tell you, I'm not the judge.
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Oh, no, Ellen. Don't touch me, hangman. All right, that's
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what I am. Hangman, hangman.
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Hangman.
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Yes, hangman, hangman.
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Say it again and again. What do I care? I
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like being a hangman. You hear me? I like being
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a hangman.
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Oh, no.
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There, forget something more.
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No, Ben.
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I like killing them.
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No, no, no.
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I like the way they stumble when they walk up
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the stairs.
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No, no, no.
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I like the cold whiteness of their skins when I
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put the noose around their necks. I like the way
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everyone looks at me, watches me, and then the crash
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and the rope stretches. Sometimes their legs kick in the
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air and you hear them heaving for a little while
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and I can't get past the tightrope around their neck.
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No, no, no, no, Sam.
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No, Sam. No, Sam.
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When.
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When I was a boy, they... No. Stung a man
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up from a tree just outside of the town. No, no, no.
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And I watched him and I saw him dance on
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air and I said to myself, someday I'll do that too.
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Hang them, legal, make them dance on air because it's
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the law. And now I'm doing what I wanted. Executioner
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for the crown.
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And Waylon won't change it a bit. Now come here
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to me.
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No, stay away from me.
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Come here. No, I won't stay with you. I won't
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hang them.
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I won't stay with you.
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I'll go away.
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I'll go away.
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I'll go away. I thought she wouldn't leave me, but
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she did. Ellen left me. I looked all over. Couldn't
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find her. After a while, I didn't care what's a woman.
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I had my work. Hanging work. Five guineas of hanging
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and gold coin. Five of them. Five golden guineas. I
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like the sound of them. I like the sound of them.
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One, two, three, four, five. I bought a strong box
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and kept them there. Every hanging meant five more. Paying
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me they were for what I liked to do. It
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was funny, very funny.
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I didn't miss her.
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Now, why should I? I had my work. I got
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to be good at my work. The courts were good, too.
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They gave me pleasure to do. I tried out different ways.
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I made a hanging machine with springs and sandbags that
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jerked the man into the air first and then dropped.
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Him through a trap.
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I tried out different ropes and different running nooses. Oh,
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I got to be good at it in 20 years.
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Real good.
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Ticking, ticking, stop ticking.
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I hear you, blasted clock. I hear you. What are
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you trying to tell me?
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I know.
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There isn't much time left. They'll be here soon. Let
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them come. Let them come. I'm ready. Pistol in my hand.
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I'm ready.
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For the first knock on the door, I won't be
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here to hear them. I'll have peace and quiet. Whatever
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they say to me, I won't hear it because I'll
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be dead. Why should they say it? What's done is done.
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777 of.
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Them.
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It was fun because each died different. 777 different angels.
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It was fun, I tell you, fun, fun. Some were moaning.
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And some went to the gallows to cry. Best of all,
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I liked the one that went out crazy scared.
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Oh, no.
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Oh, no.
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Yeah.
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Wait.
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Yes.
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The ones that were crazy scared were the best. I
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liked them fine. And five guineas just the same for
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having fun.
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Five guineas. On that at the door, I heard a sound. Now,
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I just imagine no one's knocking.
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They knock, I press the trigger, they won't get me.
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Not me.
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Me? 777.5 guineas each. Coins that bit into my flesh
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when I grabbed them tight. Oh, I like the sound.
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Money, money, yellow money. First I like the hanging's best,
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and then the money. Then I got to like them both. Watch.
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Eager around the courtrooms. This trial, that trial. Would they
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hang him? Would they hang her?
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Would the judge say guilty? If he did, then they're
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hanging another five guineas. Well, I'll watch for business. New business,
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my business. Hang them up and watch them die. When
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will they knock on the door? When pistols heavy in
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my hand. He used a pistol, too, they said, Tom Allen.
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I read about him in the court announcement one day
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when I was outside of the courtroom looking for new business.
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Hanging business.
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Ellen, 20-year-old law student, was charged by the city police
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with having murdered his sweetheart Lorraine Hamilton, 19-year-old daughter of
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Arvin Hamilton.
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Young Ellen denied the charge vigorously. He stated that the girl.
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Had sent him a letter in which he told of
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her intentions of committing suicide. But at a late hour,
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Ellen was unable to produce this letter. He was held
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without bond at the tower in the church.
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Yes, that's what it said.
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That's what it said. He'd murdered her, young girl.
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The minute I read it, I said to myself, Sam
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Jones is the next one. I could hear the money
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clinking in my hand already. And Tom Allen hanging by
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his neck. What am I thinking about?
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What am I.
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Why don't they come and knock on the door and
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let me get this over with? I need the knocking
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on the door to give me nerve enough to press
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the trigger. This waiting, waiting. I waited for Tom Allen, too.
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I waited for them to say guilty to him so
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I could put the running noose around his neck. I waited, waited,
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going every day to the trial. The prosecutor for the
251
00:11:20.700 --> 00:11:21.240
Crown said.
252
00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:26.220
Guilty. The young man's solicitor said... Not guilty. The young
253
00:11:26.259 --> 00:11:28.299
man said... I didn't do it. I tell you, I
254
00:11:28.340 --> 00:11:30.039
didn't do it. She did it herself.
255
00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:32.259
She wrote me a letter saying that she was killing herself.
256
00:11:32.610 --> 00:11:34.610
She wrote me a letter. She wrote me a letter,
257
00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:36.029
I tell you. She wrote me a letter.
258
00:11:36.570 --> 00:11:39.330
Yes, that's what he said. She wrote me a letter
259
00:11:39.370 --> 00:11:40.370
saying she was killing herself.
260
00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:43.000
Where was the letter? Where was the letter?
261
00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:44.379
Nobody knew. Couldn't find it.
262
00:11:45.539 --> 00:11:48.620
Day after day, sitting there in the courtroom, I could
263
00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:52.159
see the noose coming close and close. A few days
264
00:11:52.230 --> 00:11:54.649
more and he'd be dancing on air. Another five guineas
265
00:11:54.710 --> 00:11:55.230
in my box.
266
00:11:56.309 --> 00:11:56.970
Such a pity.
267
00:11:57.009 --> 00:11:59.909
Such a handsome young man. Strong young neck for my rope.
268
00:12:00.909 --> 00:12:03.340
I say he didn't have a chance. What good did
269
00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:05.059
it do for his solicitor to keep saying.
270
00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:06.860
I tell you, gentlemen.
271
00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:11.570
It is circumstantial evidence and circumstantial evidence alone which has
272
00:12:11.610 --> 00:12:16.470
been produced. A weird combination of circumstances have conspired to.
273
00:12:16.409 --> 00:12:17.070
Make it appear.
274
00:12:17.570 --> 00:12:21.090
That the suicide of this unfortunate girl was a murder
275
00:12:21.129 --> 00:12:26.620
committed by this equally unfortunate young man. And an equally
276
00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:30.659
weird set of circumstances have resulted in the disappearance of
277
00:12:30.700 --> 00:12:35.100
this vital letter... which clears Tom Allen of all responsibility
278
00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:39.759
for Mistress Hamilton's death. In this letter, the girl clearly
279
00:12:39.860 --> 00:12:43.139
stated that she was taking her own life by poison.
280
00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.279
In spite of the absence of this letter, surely you
281
00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:51.460
as intelligent men can tell after seeing and hearing Tom
282
00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:55.340
Allen's testimony that he is telling the truth, that such
283
00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:58.139
a letter did reach him, and that he is innocent
284
00:12:58.230 --> 00:12:59.379
of all wrongdoing.
285
00:13:01.350 --> 00:13:02.210
But there was no letter.
286
00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:05.870
He didn't have a chance. The prosecutor for the Crown
287
00:13:05.909 --> 00:13:06.190
got up.
288
00:13:06.990 --> 00:13:08.110
He said... A letter.
289
00:13:08.649 --> 00:13:12.700
A mysterious letter. And where, gentlemen of the jury, is
290
00:13:12.779 --> 00:13:17.120
this letter? To what mystical realms has it disappeared? This
291
00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:21.730
wondrous communication which so conveniently absolved Tom Allen for the
292
00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:22.950
death of that poor girl.
293
00:13:23.750 --> 00:13:25.590
Where, I ask again, is this letter?
294
00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:29.220
The young man has stated repeatedly that the letter was
295
00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:33.200
in his lodging undestroyed. That every inch of that lodging
296
00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:34.460
has been carefully examined.
297
00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:38.299
And yes, the letter has not been found. And why
298
00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:39.039
hasn't it been.
299
00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:39.620
Found, gentlemen?
300
00:13:40.299 --> 00:13:40.820
I'll tell you.
301
00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:45.850
It is because that letter does not exist. Lorraine Hamilton
302
00:13:45.889 --> 00:13:47.129
never wrote such a letter.
303
00:13:47.870 --> 00:13:48.669
She was murdered.
304
00:13:49.490 --> 00:13:51.970
Murdered in a fit of jealous rage by this man
305
00:13:52.009 --> 00:13:55.690
who expects you to believe a preposterous story about her death.
306
00:13:57.570 --> 00:14:01.139
Yes. I sat there and I felt good. Because I
307
00:14:01.169 --> 00:14:02.600
saw that young fellow didn't have a chance.
308
00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:06.000
My noose was getting closer and closer to his neck.
309
00:14:07.419 --> 00:14:09.039
And then the black cat on the judge's head.
310
00:14:10.220 --> 00:14:14.360
For this vicious crime against the order and security of
311
00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:14.990
the crown.
312
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:21.080
You, Thomas Allen... Or have I condemned to be hanged
313
00:14:21.179 --> 00:14:22.840
by the neck until dead?
314
00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:23.179
No.
315
00:14:23.700 --> 00:14:24.919
No, I didn't do it.
316
00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:25.649
I didn't do it.
317
00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:26.600
I tell you, I didn't.
318
00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:27.320
I'm innocent.
319
00:14:27.419 --> 00:14:28.960
I didn't do it.
320
00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:32.090
Then I had him.
321
00:14:32.850 --> 00:14:34.789
All his yelling, all his screaming wouldn't do any good.
322
00:14:34.830 --> 00:14:37.070
I had him all ready for my new skill day.
323
00:14:38.009 --> 00:14:39.730
I wanted to go up and thank the judges. Gave
324
00:14:39.750 --> 00:14:43.179
me business, hanging business, devil's business. Why don't they hurry
325
00:14:43.220 --> 00:14:45.600
up and get here? I wouldn't have to think anymore.
326
00:14:45.620 --> 00:14:47.139
A knock on the door, I wouldn't have to think.
327
00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:50.059
Fingers squeeze the trigger. Finished piece. I won't have to think.
328
00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:52.480
I wouldn't have to think what happened then, what happened
329
00:14:52.539 --> 00:14:53.639
after they said the boy was guilty.
330
00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:54.460
They put him in a cell.
331
00:14:54.980 --> 00:14:59.039
Death cell. The door shut tight. And I stood and watched.
332
00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:03.399
They put him in a cell. Five golden guineas in
333
00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:06.340
a cell. A few more weeks and he'd be mine
334
00:15:06.379 --> 00:15:10.789
to teach that dancing lesson on thin air. I'd count
335
00:15:10.809 --> 00:15:14.090
it every day until they'd give them to me. I
336
00:15:14.129 --> 00:15:15.289
peeked along the corridor.
337
00:15:15.009 --> 00:15:15.789
Watching his sale.
338
00:15:17.110 --> 00:15:20.250
The warden of the prison said, Well, Sam, it certainly
339
00:15:20.289 --> 00:15:23.009
looks as if you're going to have another customer. I
340
00:15:23.049 --> 00:15:26.070
suppose you heard about it. The king refused young Allen's
341
00:15:26.110 --> 00:15:30.190
last appeal. He hangs in two more days. We'll try
342
00:15:30.230 --> 00:15:31.789
to make his going as easy as we can.
343
00:15:31.809 --> 00:15:35.649
I like the lad. Too bad about that letter, he
344
00:15:35.669 --> 00:15:37.129
says the girl wrote him.
345
00:15:38.370 --> 00:15:39.470
Well, no use talking about it.
346
00:15:40.190 --> 00:15:41.230
We've got to do our duty.
347
00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:44.480
Oh, by the way, you're going past the cell?
348
00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:45.159
Here.
349
00:15:45.820 --> 00:15:49.279
Here's some books of his. His landlady sent him. Thought
350
00:15:49.299 --> 00:15:51.460
he might like to read them while he had the time.
351
00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:54.080
Take them with you, Sam, and give them to him.
352
00:15:54.990 --> 00:15:56.929
It'll be his last time to read.
353
00:15:58.049 --> 00:15:59.190
So I took the books along.
354
00:15:59.490 --> 00:15:59.889
Why not?
355
00:15:59.990 --> 00:16:04.289
Why not? Reading wouldn't save that neck. I started down
356
00:16:04.309 --> 00:16:07.330
the corridors with his books. Down the corridors toward the
357
00:16:07.370 --> 00:16:10.159
death cell. Something white fell out of one of his
358
00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:13.200
books and I picked it up. It was a letter
359
00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:13.700
and it read.
360
00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:17.570
Dear Tom, I told you I was going to kill myself.
361
00:16:18.210 --> 00:16:20.870
And now I'm going to do it. By the time
362
00:16:20.909 --> 00:16:23.590
you get this, the police ought to be accusing you
363
00:16:23.649 --> 00:16:27.250
of murder. Since undoubtedly all those people who heard us
364
00:16:27.330 --> 00:16:30.389
quarrel the other night will be testifying that you killed me.
365
00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:34.850
That's the main reason I'm sending you this letter. so
366
00:16:34.870 --> 00:16:37.529
that you will have some proof that the poison they'll
367
00:16:37.570 --> 00:16:39.370
find in me was self-administered.
368
00:16:40.409 --> 00:16:43.379
Forgive me. I'm just tired of living.
369
00:16:44.669 --> 00:16:47.039
And it was her name signed toward hers, that girl's.
370
00:16:47.700 --> 00:16:48.700
The one they said he'd killed.
371
00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:49.620
This was the letter.
372
00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:51.980
The letter he'd been yelling about. The letter he wanted
373
00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:54.559
to save his neck. But his neck belonged to me already.
374
00:16:54.600 --> 00:16:55.240
Five guineas.
375
00:16:56.500 --> 00:16:58.019
I stuck the letter deeper in my pocket and just
376
00:16:58.080 --> 00:16:58.799
waited until the night.
377
00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:00.120
The warden.
378
00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:03.080
Well, Sam, it looks as if we're going to have
379
00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:05.490
to go through with it. Now, I want everything done
380
00:17:05.529 --> 00:17:08.869
properly and no mistake. Going to have a large visitor's gallery.
381
00:17:09.509 --> 00:17:13.569
Very distinguished people. Say, and that reminds me. There's been
382
00:17:13.589 --> 00:17:15.269
some woman trying to see you all day.
383
00:17:16.029 --> 00:17:18.829
Some woman. Don't know who she is, Sam. She says
384
00:17:18.869 --> 00:17:20.029
she's got to see you.
385
00:17:20.190 --> 00:17:22.089
Well, I wasn't seeing any woman, not that night.
386
00:17:22.109 --> 00:17:24.130
There was my work to do. See that everything was ready.
387
00:17:24.170 --> 00:17:24.869
The rope was ready.
388
00:17:25.210 --> 00:17:28.319
Everything perfect for a perfect hanging. Through later and later.
389
00:17:29.579 --> 00:17:31.099
I could hear him in the death cell pleading with
390
00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:31.380
the minister.
391
00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:32.859
But you've got to help me, sir.
392
00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:35.140
You've got to. You've got to get the king. He's
393
00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:37.279
got to believe that I didn't kill her.
394
00:17:37.380 --> 00:17:37.859
I didn't.
395
00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:41.339
Oh, won't anyone believe me? She wrote me a letter.
396
00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:43.119
She wrote me a letter in which she said she
397
00:17:43.180 --> 00:17:44.039
killed herself.
398
00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:46.160
She wrote me a letter, I tell you. She wrote
399
00:17:46.180 --> 00:17:47.509
me a letter. Yes, a letter.
400
00:17:48.109 --> 00:17:49.509
But it was in my pocket and there it was
401
00:17:49.529 --> 00:17:50.829
going to stay until it was all over.
402
00:17:51.369 --> 00:17:53.730
He couldn't live. He couldn't live now. I'd waited too long.
403
00:17:53.750 --> 00:17:55.890
It had been such a long time since they'd given
404
00:17:55.910 --> 00:17:57.130
me a good, strong.
405
00:17:56.849 --> 00:18:00.119
Neck to hang. They couldn't cheat me now. At last
406
00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:00.799
it was the hour.
407
00:18:00.819 --> 00:18:09.000
They came for him in his heaven. They led him
408
00:18:09.019 --> 00:18:11.779
down the corridor. And then they were marching him up
409
00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:31.289
the stairs to the gallows. waiting, waiting.
410
00:18:31.789 --> 00:18:36.079
The rope was in my hand. The boy looked up
411
00:18:36.130 --> 00:18:39.039
at me. His lips moved. He said, I tell you,
412
00:18:39.099 --> 00:18:42.539
I didn't do it. The letter. The letter. Black hood
413
00:18:42.579 --> 00:18:45.500
over his head. The letter. I didn't kill her. The letter.
414
00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:46.940
I tell you, I didn't do it.
415
00:18:46.960 --> 00:19:00.750
Black hood. This man is dead.
416
00:19:01.670 --> 00:19:03.190
It was done. This man is dead.
417
00:19:03.829 --> 00:19:05.329
Five golden guineas, the warden said.
418
00:19:05.390 --> 00:19:06.089
Good work, Sam.
419
00:19:06.450 --> 00:19:07.529
Broke his neck.
420
00:19:08.910 --> 00:19:09.849
I went out into the street.
421
00:19:09.869 --> 00:19:16.450
I was walking home. I felt real good. Five golden guineas.
422
00:19:17.829 --> 00:19:19.529
A woman came up to me and said... Are you
423
00:19:19.670 --> 00:19:20.470
Sam Jones?
424
00:19:20.630 --> 00:19:21.430
Yes, that's me.
425
00:19:21.470 --> 00:19:22.049
What do you want?
426
00:19:22.210 --> 00:19:23.829
I haven't got time to... You'll have time to listen
427
00:19:23.869 --> 00:19:26.990
to me, hangman. Who are you? Look at me.
428
00:19:28.410 --> 00:19:28.609
Ellen.
429
00:19:28.789 --> 00:19:29.390
Yes, Ellen.
430
00:19:30.099 --> 00:19:32.599
What? Wife no longer, Hangman. No mother either.
431
00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:32.859
Eh?
432
00:19:32.900 --> 00:19:34.599
No mother either. And you're the thing that's done it.
433
00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:34.920
Oh, wait.
434
00:19:34.980 --> 00:19:36.920
What? I tried to reach you. I tried to tell you.
435
00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:37.880
They said you wouldn't see me.
436
00:19:37.940 --> 00:19:39.740
What could I do? What could I do? Your hand
437
00:19:39.779 --> 00:19:40.019
did it.
438
00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:40.660
Yours, Hangman.
439
00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:40.900
Yours.
440
00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:42.099
What are you talking about, woman?
441
00:19:42.140 --> 00:19:43.450
Why? Tonight, Tom Allen.
442
00:19:43.650 --> 00:19:46.150
My maiden name was Allen. Don't you understand? You hung
443
00:19:46.210 --> 00:19:48.049
Tom Allen. Well, and so I did.
444
00:19:48.089 --> 00:19:48.710
What of it, woman?
445
00:19:48.730 --> 00:19:49.150
What of it?
446
00:19:49.210 --> 00:19:51.099
Tom Allen, Hangman. was your son.
447
00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:51.180
No.
448
00:19:51.900 --> 00:19:54.490
Your son, your son.
449
00:19:54.509 --> 00:19:56.529
You hear me, Hangman? Your son. You hung your son.
450
00:19:56.569 --> 00:19:57.430
You hung your son.
451
00:19:57.450 --> 00:19:57.930
Your son.
452
00:19:57.950 --> 00:19:58.829
You hung your son.
453
00:19:58.849 --> 00:19:59.309
Your son.
454
00:19:59.349 --> 00:19:59.789
Your son.
455
00:19:59.829 --> 00:20:00.329
You hung your.
456
00:20:03.549 --> 00:20:06.609
I began to run. Down the street.
457
00:20:06.910 --> 00:20:08.220
Away from her.
458
00:20:08.259 --> 00:20:08.579
Running.
459
00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:10.400
Running.
460
00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:17.990
Running. A man stepped out of the shadows. He stopped me.
461
00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:19.079
I couldn't see his face.
462
00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:22.980
You killed my brother seven years ago this night, Hengman.
463
00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:25.180
I said, no, no, no. Leave me alone. Leave me alone.
464
00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:28.859
I kept on running. A woman stopped me.
465
00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:30.349
You hung my father, monster.
466
00:20:30.369 --> 00:20:31.700
You hung my father.
467
00:20:31.329 --> 00:20:32.450
11 years ago.
468
00:20:32.490 --> 00:20:33.029
No, no.
469
00:20:33.089 --> 00:20:34.849
I said, no. Let me go. Let me go. I
470
00:20:34.869 --> 00:20:37.569
kept on running, but they kept after me. Yelling, screaming.
471
00:20:37.589 --> 00:20:39.670
I kept on running.
472
00:20:40.329 --> 00:20:41.269
Faster, faster.
473
00:20:42.009 --> 00:20:44.329
I knew I was to join them. I looked back.
474
00:20:44.369 --> 00:20:47.329
The street was black with hundreds chasing me, yelling, screaming.
475
00:20:47.369 --> 00:20:49.990
I'd hung their sons, fathers, brothers. The street was black
476
00:20:50.009 --> 00:20:51.210
with them, I tell you, and every one of them
477
00:20:51.250 --> 00:20:54.369
akin to one of the 777 that had felt my rope.
478
00:20:54.410 --> 00:20:57.190
Chasing me, chasing me. Hundreds of them yelling, screaming after
479
00:20:57.210 --> 00:20:58.140
my life, wanting my blood.
480
00:20:58.160 --> 00:20:59.740
Hands outstretched like clothes to catch me.
481
00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:01.960
Tear my flesh and scratch my eyes up. Running, running, looking,
482
00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:02.519
capturing me.
483
00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:08.000
No! That's the way I did it. That's the way
484
00:21:08.019 --> 00:21:10.460
I did it. Slammed the door, lost a pack of them.
485
00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:13.500
Every one of them wives and sons and brothers of
486
00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:17.559
the 777. But they'll find me. They'll search me out.
487
00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:19.529
They're searching me out. Yes, they'll find me. That's why
488
00:21:19.569 --> 00:21:21.650
my finger's on the pistol. The mob won't get me. No,
489
00:21:21.670 --> 00:21:25.490
the mob won't get me. Funny mob they were.
490
00:21:25.509 --> 00:21:30.450
They're not bodies, just heads. Heads of people chasing me
491
00:21:30.470 --> 00:21:33.019
and yelling. They won't get me. No, they won't. When
492
00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:34.359
they find me here, when they knock on that door,
493
00:21:34.380 --> 00:21:39.940
I'll kill myself. They're here outside the door. He won't
494
00:21:39.980 --> 00:21:40.230
get me.
495
00:21:41.190 --> 00:21:44.930
Not you? Yes, I hung your sons, husbands, killed your friends, lovers,
496
00:21:44.950 --> 00:21:46.390
but that's not all. I hung my son.
497
00:21:47.109 --> 00:21:47.549
You hear me?
498
00:21:47.589 --> 00:21:48.190
Hung my son.
499
00:21:48.230 --> 00:21:49.960
For five guineas, hung my son.
500
00:21:55.859 --> 00:21:58.740
Yes. Come in.
501
00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.210
Come in, all of you, and see me die. Yes.
502
00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:16.359
And you mean to say he yelled out for you
503
00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:17.140
to come in and then.
504
00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:17.880
He shot himself?
505
00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:19.880
Yes, sir. It's the gold's truth.
506
00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:23.529
I knocked on the door. He yelled, come in. Come in,
507
00:22:23.589 --> 00:22:25.750
all of you, and see me die. And when I
508
00:22:25.829 --> 00:22:28.339
opened the door, bang, he did it.
509
00:22:28.769 --> 00:22:30.809
And what were you banging on his door for this
510
00:22:30.890 --> 00:22:31.730
early in the morning?
511
00:22:32.009 --> 00:22:32.869
What were you after?
512
00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:33.630
After?
513
00:22:34.539 --> 00:22:38.700
After nothing. I was looking for McDonald's. This next house.
514
00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:40.480
I just knocked on the wrong door.
515
00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:53.500
Lights Out. State Executioner concludes our program. This is Victor Sterling.
516
00:22:54.019 --> 00:22:57.000
Until next time, good night. Follow Lights Out for more
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00:22:57.079 --> 00:22:58.220
classic broadcasts.