The Rose Garden

Originally Aired: October 5, 1950 Suspense #397, "The Rose Garden," stars Miriam Hopkins as Mrs. Trimble, a recently widowed woman who arrives at her cousin Amy Hansen's home seeking refuge and a new start. With no family or friends left after her husband George's death, Effie hopes to find comfort in the quiet household. However, her arrival is met with immediate hostility from Amy's other lodger, the severe and eccentric Miss Bone, who lived in China for years and keeps an intimidating cat named Chang. Miss Bone makes her resentment clear, claiming Effie has taken her chair and warning that her cat doesn't like strangers. The tension escalates when Miss Bone reveals she possesses a bottle of deadly Chinese poison called key lai. When the episode opens, a young woman has died in the house, Amy has called the police screaming murder, and Miss Bone is hysterical. Sheriff Richards and Doctor Kramer discover a diary that Effie left behind, suggesting she knew something terrible was about to happen. As they begin questioning the surviving women, the peaceful rose garden setting gives way to dark suspicions about what transpired in this seemingly quiet home.