Death Sentence

Originally Aired: November 4, 1948 Suspense #313, "Death Sentence," stars John Garfield as Tommy, a private investigator who returns from a Brazilian vacation only to find himself in deadly trouble. Six months earlier, Tommy had captured Maxie Dunn, a killer working for crime boss Lou Cromwell, collecting a fifteen thousand dollar reward in the process. Tommy thought the killing was a private matter and Lou wouldn't care, but he was wrong. Within minutes of arriving back in town, Tommy is summoned to Lou's office, where the powerful gangster delivers a chilling ultimatum: Tommy has exactly seven days to live, the same amount of time until Maxie goes to the gas chamber. Lou explains that letting Tommy grab one of his boys makes him look weak, and in his business, appearing weak is fatal. Tommy can either handle his own death sentence himself or Lou's men will take care of it when the week is up. Though Tommy protests and considers going to the district attorney, Lou dismisses the threat, insisting their conversation was merely friendly with no witnesses to any threats. As Tommy leaves to rejoin columnist Brad Cummings at Lou's cocktail party, he's determined to find a way to beat the house at its own deadly game.