The Silent Witness

From Hollywood, the CBS Radio Workshop, dedicated to man's imagination, the theater of the mind. The Silent Witness, produced and directed by William N. Robeson, starring Mr. Raymond Berg. This is a play for one person, his voice and his alone will you hear.

You will meet other persons, your imagination will endow them with being, clothe them with costume, justify their motives, and evaluate their ethics. But you will hear only one voice, the voice of Raymond Burr, interpreting the role of Henry Charington, district attorney. Silent witness, an experiment with your imagination. And so at last it came to trial. The state versus William Bard, the

charge murder, a cheap stupid murder, murder of a small-time lawyer, the accused and elevator boy. Boy, well a man. The motive, fear, fear of an accusation of theft, the theft of a gold watch. It was the sort of case that would be forgotten with tomorrow's newspapers, accepting for one point of interest to point avidly seized upon by the

press. You see, the principal witness for the defence, Alice Gardner, as you know, was unable to talk. The shock of the murder had been too much for her. She had suffered a stroke, One side of her face and her vocal cords were completely paralyzed.

She was able to ride, of course, a haphazard scrawl, but legible enough. Alice Gardner was brought directly from the hospital to the courtroom. I opened my cross-examination with delicacy. You can't attack sympathetic witness too soon.

Now, as you know, Miss Gardner, the judge has allowed that you may nod your head for yes, and shake your head for no. If the answers to my questions require more than these indications, you may continue to write them on the pad of paper by your side.