Originally Aired: September 16, 1948
Suspense #307, "Hitch-Hike Poker," presents a harrowing tale of betrayal on the open road. Ridge Fowler, a college student hitchhiking home, gets picked up by the seemingly affable J. Stuart Beldon, a well-dressed middle-aged man driving a canary yellow convertible. As they travel down the California coast, Beldon teaches Ridge a harmless game called license plate poker and even gifts him an expensive camel's hair coat. But the friendly atmosphere takes a deadly turn when Beldon suddenly transforms into a cold-blooded predator on a treacherous mountain road.
Without warning, Beldon opens his door, twists the wheel, and leaps from the speeding car, leaving Ridge to plunge over the cliff. Miraculously surviving the crash, Ridge struggles back up the hillside only to find Beldon waiting with a gun, determined to finish the job. After narrowly escaping and making his way back to Santa Inez on foot, Ridge seeks sanctuary at the police station, ready to report the murder attempt. But when he walks through the door, he discovers Beldon has already arrived with a shocking accusation of his own.
