The Search for Isabell

Originally Aired: November 3, 1949 Suspense #357, "The Search for Isabell," stars Red Skelton as Dick Brown, an ordinary bank clerk whose life takes a strange turn when he receives a newly installed telephone. The phone comes with an unexpected complication: it belonged to the previous subscriber, a mysterious woman named Isabel LaRue. As calls pour in from various men seeking Isabel, Dick becomes increasingly intrigued by this elusive woman he's never met. Among the callers are wealthy, powerful men like Harold Mason and the playboy gambler John Worthington, all desperate to reach her. Dick begins fantasizing about Isabel, constructing an idealized image of her beauty and sophistication in his mind. The situation turns sinister when John Worthington calls in an agitated state, demanding to speak with Isabel and threatening to cause trouble at the Beverly Towers if she doesn't contact him. The next morning, Dick discovers that Worthington has leaped to his death from the Beverly Towers. While newspapers attribute the suicide to gambling debts, Dick knows the truth: it was because of Isabel LaRue. As Dick finds himself dreaming about Isabel obsessively and growing strangely sympathetic to Worthington's fate, he realizes he may be falling under the same dangerous spell that destroyed the playboy gambler.