Dialing for Murder: "One Phone Call" | Domestic Psychological Thriller

0:00 Speaker 1: Doorway to Nightmare is brought to you in part by Swanage Press. It lies in wait amidst your dreams, where nothing is ever how it seems. It is a portal to a terrifying world beyond the doorway. Come in. Welcome. I'm Artemis Black. Have you ever watched what is commonly referred to as the Police Procedural Television Show? or perhaps found yourself in the unsavory predicament of being arrested. You will note that in most cases, you are allowed one phone call. Some people will, and please pardon the expression, phone a friend.

1:18 Speaker 1: Others may phone a family member. In any case, the phone can be a lifeline. But in our little play, it is something much more sinister.

1:31 Speaker 2: It seemed like a small device, Dennis.

1:34 Speaker 3: Oh, it was. But large enough to get the job done. Wouldn't you agree, Angie?

1:40 Speaker 2: And all it took was a phone call to activate it?

1:44 Speaker 3: Exactly.

1:45 Speaker 4: And when the device went off, there was almost nothing left of the car.

1:50 Speaker 3: Or your husband, Richard.

1:53 Speaker 5: Richard.

1:56 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, One Phone Call, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our cast includes Raven Adams, Crimson McKenzie, and Winslow Swan. I'll return shortly with Act One.

2:14 Speaker 6: Have you heard any good books lately? Audiobooks from Winslow Swan, now available on Spotify.

2:37 Speaker 1: The first US patent for the telephone was bestowed upon Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. While others were also working on similar devices, Bell's patent was the first to describe both the telephone instrument and the concept of a telephone system. He is widely credited with revolutionizing communication by enabling instant voice transmissions over distances. With the coming of the cell phone, the telephone has become so much more than a mere instrument for communication.

3:27 Speaker 2: And that is all there is to it?

3:30 Speaker 3: That's it. Nothing more than making a simple phone call.

3:34 Speaker 2: How will we know that it worked?

3:37 Speaker 3: Believe me, it will work.

3:40 Speaker 4: In about another 20 seconds, the device will explode and then.

3:47 Speaker 3: No more Richard.

3:49 Speaker 2: I can't believe how easy it was to place the thing. Such a small device, too.

3:58 Speaker 3: After a brief mourning period, you and I will be together.

4:02 Speaker 6: Yes, I suppose we will.

4:06 Speaker 3: Well, now, don't be so excited about it.

4:11 Speaker 2: Oh, no, it's not that, Dennis. I just want to be sure that Richard is dead. It's all right now, Dennis. You can come out now.

4:38 Speaker 3: Was that the police?

4:39 Speaker 2: Yes, it was.

4:42 Speaker 1: And? Well?

4:45 Speaker 3: What did they say?

4:45 Speaker 2: That was my poor dear husband, Richard.

4:53 Speaker 7: Was tragically killed when his car exploded. The police wanted me to come down this morning and identify the body.

5:08 Speaker 3: I told you that it would work.

5:11 Speaker 4: Now we no longer have to sneak around. And you, you now have everything. Not to mention the life insurance. Come here and kiss me.

5:23 Speaker 2: Now, just a minute, Dennis. What would the neighbors say?

5:30 Speaker 3: Out here? In the middle of nowhere? Stop playing hard to get and give me....

5:38 Speaker 2: Now who could that be?

5:40 Speaker 3: Surely not the police again.

5:42 Speaker 2: You best get back to the kitchen. I'll get rid of them.

5:58 Speaker 1: Good evening, Angie.

6:01 Speaker 5: Surprised to see me.

6:03 Speaker 2: But, Richard? You're supposed to be.

6:08 Speaker 5: Dead?

6:09 Speaker 1: Yes.

6:10 Speaker 5: An exploding car would do that to a person.

6:13 Speaker 2: What happened? How are you alive?

6:19 Speaker 5: Simply a case of a fortunate accident. I stopped at a diner on the way home and stupidly left my keys in the car. Someone took it upon themselves to steal the car. Imagine my surprise when 30 seconds after driving off, the car exploded.

6:38 Speaker 2: Yes, I suppose that would be quite fortuitous.

6:46 Speaker 5: Well now, aren't you glad to see me? Now, I suppose you would like me to be dead, but I'm not. A woman who actually loved her husband would throw her arms around him if he returned, such as I have now. But, no, not you, Angie. Not you.

7:10 Speaker 2: You're being so theatrical, Richard.

7:14 Speaker 5: No, no, no, no. It's just practical. You would like to get rid of me, wouldn't you?

7:20 Speaker 2: All right, Richard. Let's not play games anymore. I despise you.

7:29 Speaker 5: And you would like to see me dead, right?

7:33 Speaker 2: Why couldn't you have been in the car?

7:36 Speaker 5: Would you like another chance?

7:41 Speaker 3: Gladly.

7:42 Speaker 5: Then tell Dennis to come back in here.

7:45 Speaker 1: Oh, yes, yes.

7:47 Speaker 5: I know all about you and him.

7:49 Speaker 3: All right, Richard. So you know. Now what do we do?

7:57 Speaker 5: Well, it's quite simple.

8:00 Speaker 1: Here.

8:03 Speaker 5: Take this gun.

8:04 Speaker 2: More theatrics, Richard.

8:07 Speaker 1: Oh, no, no.

8:08 Speaker 5: I thought this whole thing out. All you have to do is shoot me.

8:14 Speaker 2: Richard, this is not one of your horrid little movies or TV shows. You are not... directing another one of your so-called television specials.

8:27 Speaker 5: The gun feels good in your hand, doesn't it, Angie? It will feel even better when you squeeze the trigger. And kill me.

8:39 Speaker 2: Oh, yes. And then just wait around for the pleas? No, Richard. I'm not playing one of your silly little games.

8:49 Speaker 6: I know you all too well.

8:52 Speaker 2: Oh, you'd like to see me on death row. Even if you have to die to do it.

9:00 Speaker 3: Now, wait, darling.

9:02 Speaker 4: Richard does have a point.

9:05 Speaker 2: Oh, not you as well.

9:09 Speaker 5: Angie, why don't you let him speak?

9:13 Speaker 3: Think about it, Angie.

9:15 Speaker 4: The police have already identified whoever was in the car when it exploded as Richard. As far as they are concerned... Richard is already dead.

9:26 Speaker 5: Are the wheels inside that head of yours turning yet, Angie?

9:32 Speaker 3: Don't you see? It'll be the perfect murder. Richard is already dead.

9:40 Speaker 2: And what, pray tell, do we do with the body? Have you even thought of that?

9:47 Speaker 3: She's right, Richard.

9:49 Speaker 4: We could shoot you and then have the problem of how to dispose of you.

9:53 Speaker 5: Oh, not at all, not at all. Why, the bridge down the road is empty this time of night. You can just dump my body. into the river. I'll be washed out to sea.

10:03 Speaker 2: And then? If your body is found?

10:07 Speaker 5: Between the rocks and the open ocean. Oh, I doubt there'll hardly be anything.

10:12 Speaker 1: Left of me.

10:13 Speaker 5: Well, there is the alternative.

10:17 Speaker 2: Which is?

10:19 Speaker 5: I simply go down to the police station and tell them of the horrible mistake that they made.

10:25 Speaker 3: It seems that we really don't have a choice.

10:28 Speaker 2: No. It seems that we don't. Now, help me get him into the car.

10:45 Speaker 1: The English poet and writer John Dryden once said, A murder may pass unpunished for a time, but tardy justice will overtake the crime. I'll return shortly with Act Two.

11:05 Speaker 2: Mystery. Horror.

11:08 Speaker 6: Thriller. Suspense.

11:11 Speaker 2: Novels and short story collections from Winslow Swant now available from Amazon.

11:31 Speaker 1: Alfred Hitchcock once said, television has brought back murder into the home where it belongs.

11:45 Speaker 2: Just a minute. I'm coming.

11:52 Speaker 1: Quick.

11:53 Speaker 3: Angie, get inside.

11:55 Speaker 2: I told you, Dennis. I don't want you coming here. People may start talking.

12:04 Speaker 3: But I've got to see you.

12:07 Speaker 2: Oh, all right. Get in.

12:10 Speaker 5: Quick.

12:10 Speaker 1: Dennis. Dennis.

12:14 Speaker 2: What's gotten into you?

12:17 Speaker 3: I don't know. Maybe I'm losing my mind.

12:19 Speaker 2: Dennis, what the hell is the matter with you?

12:23 Speaker 3: I saw him again tonight.

12:25 Speaker 5: Saw who?

12:27 Speaker 3: I saw him, Angie. Your husband, Richard. The man that we murdered.

12:31 Speaker 2: Get a hold of yourself.

12:33 Speaker 4: The man we murdered here in this room. His body falling over there. I saw him again tonight. I am I'm sorry, Angie. I don't know what's wrong with me.

12:47 Speaker 2: You're acting like one of those little hysterical women in one of Richard's horror movies. But then, I guess you've always acted like a.

13:00 Speaker 6: Woman, Dennis.

13:02 Speaker 3: Angie, how could you say that?

13:09 Speaker 2: It's true enough. You're acting like a frightened schoolgirl. With no more courage than a damn worm.

13:17 Speaker 3: I hope that you're enjoying this abuse that you've taken to lately.

13:20 Speaker 2: No, not particularly. I would like to say something nice to you, but you give me no reason to.

13:35 Speaker 4: I can see now why Richard hated you. You're treating me like you treated him. I thought that you loved me.

13:42 Speaker 2: Oh, stop it. If you have something worthwhile to tell me, then let me hear it.

13:50 Speaker 4: He was in my house this time. Not in the garden, or by the road, or even staring at me through the window, but inside my house. In my living room.

14:03 Speaker 3: I saw him walk out, close the door, and.

14:05 Speaker 2: Oh, darling. Why didn't you stop him? And apologize for shooting him.

14:18 Speaker 3: Do you think this is some sort of joke?

14:20 Speaker 2: No. Far from it. But if you don't get a grip on your nerves, something unpleasant may happen.

14:31 Speaker 6: I have too.

14:32 Speaker 2: Much to lose to let you go about in the state that you're in. Suppose someone hears you talking about these stupid hallucinations. They may want to investigate.

14:47 Speaker 3: And what would you do, Angie?

14:50 Speaker 2: What do you think I would do?

14:53 Speaker 3: Murder me as you murdered Richard?

14:57 Speaker 2: Darling, please, let's not be melodramatic.

15:05 Speaker 3: But you can't.

15:06 Speaker 2: Shut up, Dennis. You know, my name U has a certain...

15:16 Speaker 2: Nice ring to it. Yes. A pleasure that I find very... tempting.

15:48 Speaker 5: Good evening, Dennis.

15:53 Speaker 2: Richard!

15:54 Speaker 5: Yes, Richard. I've been waiting for you to return home.

15:59 Speaker 3: You're... you're alive.

16:01 Speaker 5: No, Dennis. Don't you remember?

16:05 Speaker 1: But.

16:06 Speaker 3: you're sitting there talking to me.

16:08 Speaker 1: Am I?

16:08 Speaker 5: Or am I simply a hallucination conjured up by a guilty conscience? There are no witnesses to prove my existence. And yet, here I am. Would you like to touch me?

16:28 Speaker 1: No!

16:28 Speaker 3: Leave me alone!

16:29 Speaker 5: Oh, I don't blame you for recoiling. I'm dead, Guinness. These are the clothes I was wearing when Angie shot me. See? The holes in the shirt. The bloodstains. Don't you see them?

16:50 Speaker 3: What do you want, Richard? Why are you here?

16:55 Speaker 5: I'm simply here to warn you, Dennis.

16:57 Speaker 3: Warn me? About what?

17:00 Speaker 5: If you go to the car, you will find a small device attached to the gas tank. The same device that you tried to use on me. Well, go on.

17:14 Speaker 1: I'll wait.

17:15 Speaker 3: You're... You're lying.

17:17 Speaker 5: Oh, and I wouldn't try to remove it. Angie has added a safeguard to it. If you try to pry it off, oh, it will definitely explode. Angie?

17:31 Speaker 3: But she wouldn't. She couldn't.

17:34 Speaker 1: Go on.

17:36 Speaker 5: Go out to the car. See for yourself.

17:50 Speaker 1: I believe that William Shakespeare said it best when he wrote, Do all men kill the things they do not love? I'll return shortly with Act 3.

18:04 Speaker 6: If you'd like to support us, visit our merchandise store. T-shirts, caps, mugs, and so much more. Visit doorwaytonightmare.com today.

18:32 Speaker 1: Mystery writer Agatha Christie once said, murder, like a forbidden act, will eventually return to haunt its perpetrator.

18:45 Speaker 3: But what if she decides to set the device off now?

18:48 Speaker 5: Oh, and she would rather watch you go up in a fiery explosion. She missed her chance with me.

18:55 Speaker 3: She would kill me. She didn't even blink an eye when she pulled the trigger on you, but I'll show her.

19:25 Speaker 3: Aren't you coming inside with me?

19:27 Speaker 5: I'll be along in a minute.

19:29 Speaker 1: Go on.

19:31 Speaker 5: You have nothing to be afraid of.

19:33 Speaker 1: Now.

19:34 Speaker 5: I thought I told you.

19:39 Speaker 4: Shut up, Angie.

19:43 Speaker 1: Angie.

19:50 Speaker 3: You see who I brought with me?

19:52 Speaker 2: Have you lost your mind? There's no one here.

19:57 Speaker 3: But don't you see Richard in the car?

20:00 Speaker 2: There's no one in the car.

20:04 Speaker 3: But he was. He was in the car.

20:07 Speaker 1: Get inside.

20:09 Speaker 2: I think we need to take care of a few things.

20:14 Speaker 3: I know about the device. I saw it.

20:16 Speaker 2: Did you? Did you really? Just like you saw Richard.

20:24 Speaker 4: Richard was the one who told me about it. You really are going to murder me unless I get to you first.

20:31 Speaker 2: Put that thing away, Dennis, before you hurt yourself.

20:35 Speaker 1: Oh, no.

20:37 Speaker 3: I'm going to kill you. I'm going to.

20:41 Speaker 6: What were you saying?

20:44 Speaker 3: But how.

20:46 Speaker 2: Oh, I received a phone call telling me what you were going to do. I should have made my own phone call to set the device off, but I wanted to be sure. And lo and behold, here you are.

21:05 Speaker 3: But, Angie, you can't.

21:08 Speaker 5: Can't.

21:12 Speaker 2: Who says I can't?

21:25 Speaker 1: Bravo.

21:25 Speaker 7: Richard.

21:27 Speaker 2: Then Dennis wasn't hallucinating.

21:31 Speaker 5: Are you so sure, my dear? Perhaps you are suffering the same delusion that Dennis had.

21:39 Speaker 1: No.

21:41 Speaker 2: You're dead.

21:46 Speaker 5: I'm a movie director and producer.

21:49 Speaker 1: Remember?

21:50 Speaker 5: It wasn't hard for me to fake being murdered. I simply called in my special effects team who.

21:58 Speaker 1: Wired me up.

22:00 Speaker 5: You and Dennis were so busy carting me out to the car and dumping me into the river, you never even noticed the wires. Then. You are alive? Oh no, Angie. I'm dead.

22:17 Speaker 1: Remember?

22:18 Speaker 5: You identified the body as being... Me.

22:22 Speaker 2: So what happens now?

22:26 Speaker 1: Now?

22:29 Speaker 5: What do you think happens?

22:31 Speaker 2: The police.

22:33 Speaker 5: Yes, my dear, the police. I called them. They should be here in just a few minutes. And you? You will be tried and convicted for the murder of Dennis.

22:49 Speaker 2: And where?

22:50 Speaker 1: Where?

22:52 Speaker 2: Where are you going?

22:53 Speaker 5: Well, very far away from you. Have a good life, my dear. I certainly intend to.

23:08 Speaker 2: Tried and convicted. Well, they can only kill me once. No matter how many times I've killed... And I do get to make one phone.

23:38 Speaker 1: Call. As Angie hangs up the phone, she watches the car explode with Richard inside. I'll have a final word in a moment. Mystery. Horror. Thriller. Suspense.

24:03 Speaker 2: Novels and short story collections from Winslow Swan, now available from Amazon.

24:24 Speaker 1: American writer Harlan Coben once said, Murder is the end of a beginning and the beginning of an end. It leaves nothing but destruction in its wake. Our cast included Raven Adams, Crimson McKenzie, and Winslow Swan. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan. And now, a preview of our next tale.

25:03 Speaker 5: I think that right cross did it, Joe.

25:06 Speaker 1: Yeah.

25:08 Speaker 5: Eight rounds. I didn't think the kid had it in him. Hey, look, Joe.

25:14 Speaker 1: He ain't breathing. What?

25:17 Speaker 5: What do you mean, he ain't breathing?

25:20 Speaker 1: Well, look.

25:21 Speaker 5: The doc's with him now, and he.

25:23 Speaker 1: He's shaking his head.

25:24 Speaker 5: Joe, you killed him.

25:26 Speaker 1: No.

25:28 Speaker 5: No, I couldn't have. They're bringing in the stretcher. Geez, look at his face. His eyes. They ain't moving. Face it, Joe. You killed him.

25:39 Speaker 1: This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us to the doorway to Nightmare for another adventure into the world of your terrifying imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully.

26:00 Speaker 1: Epilogue The Butler Did It