Design for Death (A Story from The Sealed Book)
Design for Death is set deep in the woods, where husband and wife, Carl and Dora Evans, stand looking at the remains of their car. It’s a total wreck. The pair are on the run from the police and had been hoping to make the Canadian border before nightfall. Carl was driving too fast though, and he misjudged a corner, so it looks as if they will be spending the night in the woods. When you are stranded in the middle of the woods music is the last thing that anyone expects to hear, so the pair are justifiably surprised when they hear an organ playing. Then Carl notices a path leading up to a house set farther into the woods, and he suggests that they pretend to be brother and sister and beg a room for the night.
The house belongs to Mordred Vance, who is as surprised to find visitors on his doorstep as his visitors were to hear his music drifting through the woods, but he is more than happy to offer them shelter—especially when Dora feigns a sprained ankle.
Vance appears to be a recluse. He lives like a hermit, has no radio, and does not read newspapers; so it seems unlikely that he could discover that his guests are on the run. Realizing this, Carl is keen to stay as long as possible and he urges his wife to play up on her ankle some more. Dora does so and within a week Vance is so taken with her that he asks her to marry him. He also tells her he is a very wealthy man and shows her his emergency fund of $50,000.
Dora tells him that she needs time to think about it, but Carl is doing enough thinking for both of them and he tells her to accept Vance’s proposal at once. It will be a short engagement anyway because he plans to wait until Vance is asleep and then kill him. That way they can stay as long as they want and take the money with them when they leave. Talk about being ungrateful! Vance is not as nice as he appears to be though. He has a secret and by the time Carl and Dora find out what that secret is it is too late for all concerned.
The Sealed Book: Design for Death
(Listen to the Full Episode)