Break-Up

Originally Aired: December 30, 1948 Suspense #321, "Break-Up," follows Marty Connors, a disgraced ex-cop who has crossed over to the wrong side of the law. Suspended from the police force after being set up by a woman who stole his gun during a drunken encounter, Marty angrily rejects the warnings of his former partner, Detective Kivlahan, and takes a job as a bodyguard for criminals Doc Williamson and Max Shale. Despite Kivlahan's pleas to stay clean and wait for reinstatement, Marty bitterly throws away his career, driven by resentment toward Captain Brandt and the department that he feels betrayed him. Now riding in a car on the Queensborough Bridge, Marty finds himself in a horrifying position: Max Shale has ordered him to prove his loyalty to the organization by murdering Kivlahan, his former partner. As Marty reflects on how his involvement with Williamson and Shale—and his dangerous attraction to Rita, the sultry redhead at Doc's club—has led him to this moment, he must decide whether to pull the trigger and become a cop killer, sealing his fate on the wrong side of the law forever.