The Bat

1

Cornelia Van Gorder

(Voiceover):
This

is the Oaks, a house

in the country which

I rented for the summer.

As an author, I write tales

of mystery and murder.

But the things that

happened in this house

were far more fantastic than any

story I've ever had published.

I brought a staff of servants

from my city apartment,

and my maid Lizzy Allen who had

been with me nearly 20 years.

Lizzy?

Yes, Miss Cornelia?

Cornelia Van Gorder:

Is the car ready?

It's at the door.

Look.

Hm?

Miss Cornelia, them servants

you brought from the apartment

are talking about

walking out on us.

Really?

Well, I know they

don't like it here.

But I didn't think

it was that bad.

Well, they've been hearing

things about the killer

that the police call

the Bat, and the murders

that he committed

here this past winter.

Now people are saying

he's back again.

Well, how can they

be sure of that?

Has he committed another crime?

No, not yet, but that

ain't saying that he won't.

Here's something else.

You've heard about the

bats they have here--

Animal bats, the kind that fly.

Yes, yes.

Look what it says

in this magazine.

This is a report from the

state health department.

And it says some of

them bats is rabid.

Well.

And that ain't all.

Now there's a rumor going around

that it was the Bat himself,

the killer I mean, that

released the rabid bats

in this neighborhood.

Oh, that's ridiculous.

Well, the housekeeper,

the cook, the butler,

and the upstairs

maid don't think so.

Well, I can't help

what they think.

If hysterical nonsense like

that can scare them out

of their good jobs, it's

their loss not mine.

Come on, Lizzy.

I've got to get to the bank.

Drive directly to

Zenith bank, Warner.

I'm afraid we'll have to hurry.

It's near closing time.

I'll get you there,

Miss Van Gorder.

Thanks again.

Miss Van Gorder!

How are you doing, Mr. Bailey?

How are you?

I'm very well, thank you.

You remember Lizzy Allen?

Of course, hello, Miss Allen.

How do you do?

So you're spending the

summer with us again?

Yes, yes, I've leased the

Oaks, the home of your bank

president, John Fleming.

I heard you had.

I was surprised.

Why?

Is there something

the matter with it?

No, I was surprised

because Mr. Fleming

said he would never rent it.

Oh?

Well I rented it

from his nephew mark

Fleming who has the

real estate office here.

He said his uncle would

be gone the entire summer.

That's right.

Mr. Fleming's in the north

woods now, with his physician

Dr. Wells.

Oh, pardon me.

Dale?

I want you to meet my wife.

We were married

at Christmas time.

That must have been nice.

Believe me, it was.

Oh, here she is-- my wife,

Ms. Van Gorder, Ms. Allen.

How do you do?

How do you do?

Cornelia Van Gorder.

Yes.

Oh, well I've read every murder

mystery you've ever written.

I just adored that weird one,

the private morgue of Dr. X,

even though it gave

me the shivers.

Only the shivers?

Scared hell out of me.

Oh.

Well, I really need that

Miss Corny killed them off

in that one.

When you refer to

my books, please

don't call me Miss Corny.

Pardon me, Mr. Bailey.

My.

Hynes is here to see you.

Oh yes, excuse me, please.

Don't be strangers now.

No, no we won't.

Oh, so you're a bride?

Well, not quite.

Not since Christmas.

I'm sure I've seen you.

Well, I-- I used to be

my husband's secretary

here in the bank.

Cornelia Van Gorder:

Of course, I remember.

May I welcome our most

distinguished visitor

back to Zenith?

Oh, that's very charming.

But, um--

Lieutenant Anderson.

Lieutenant Anderson,

of course, chief

of detectives of the

Zenith police department.

This is Miss Allen.

How do you do?

Lieutenant Anderson is one

of our favorite citizens.

He's on the bank's

board of directors.

Not bad for a policeman.

You must have made

a good thing of it.

Well, I saved my money,

if that's what you mean.

It's near closing time.

And I've got some business in

the safe deposit vault. Please

come and see me, Mrs. Bailey.

Oh, I'd love to.

And you, Lieutenant.

Thank you.

Goodbye.

Goodbye, nice to have met you.

My, what a charming woman.

She moved into the Oaks

just the other day.

That house is a proper sitting

for a writer of mysteries.

Oh, it certainly is.

Dick, what's the matter?

Come in here, both of you.

Andy, we're in trouble.

Wendell hynes came in to pick

up $350,000 worth of bonds

that we were holding as

collateral for a loan.

They were kept in

our special fault.

Mr. Fleming and I

are the only officers

of the bank who have

access to that vault.

So?

The hynes bonds are gone.

That's not all.

Other negotiable

securities are missing.

From what I can gather

short of a careful check,

the bank has been looted

of over a million dollars

worth of securities.

You'll have to notify Fleming.

I wish I could talk to him.

Unfortunately, he and Dr.

Wells are deep in the woods.

They can't be reached by phone.

What is it?

I thought I heard

someone on the path coming

from the lake, had an idea it

might be that guide of ours.

Oh, Sam won't show

up until morning.

It's a 20-mile canoe trip

from here to civilization.

Five will get you 10

Sam has a message for me.

I thought you told them at

the bank not to bother you.

I did.

But they'll bother me.

Doctor?

Yes, John.

What would you do

for half a million?

Anything short of murder.

Why not murder?

Too messy.

Dr. hynes:
Too great a risk?

For half a million?

Yes.

I pinched a million

from the bank.

I'm not kidding.

I embezzled it.

Not that I think

you wouldn't do it

if you thought you

could get away with it.

I got away with it.

I'm not talking about currency.

I took negotiable

securities that

could be converted into cash.

I have the cash, in tens,

twenties, and hundreds.

I'm your doctor,

not your lawyer.

Why tell me this?

You'll find out why.

Who's going to take the

blame for the robbery?

Bailey, the cashier,l

they'll never suspect me.

I like Bailey.

Well, so do i. I love the guy.

I gave him his first chance.

He has a lovely little wife.

Charming girl, I

was the best man.

Where's the million?

In my family's tomb in Zenith,

in the crypt with my father's

casket.

I don't buy that, John.

No?

No, you forget that

I had you in charge

when you were a very sick man,

when you raved in delirium.

And I heard you talk

about a hidden room.

Now, where else could

you put a hidden room

except in that

mansion you built,

that white elephant

you call the Oaks?

Look, everyone knows

I have a bad heart.

Who would doubt it if you

wired the bank directors

that my heart had failed, that

I had fallen from a great height

here in the woods, and that

I was badly smashed up?

You could ship the

body back for burial,

and instruct them not to open

the casket due to the condition

of its contents.

Well, you realize,

of course, that we'd

have to have a body to

put in that casket, which

means that we'd have to deal

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