Originally Aired: July 15, 1948
Suspense #298, "Summer Night," Anna Macaulay makes a desperate phone call to her old friend Helen after years of self-imposed isolation. For nearly four years since her father's death, Anna has lived as the town's recluse in a gloomy house with locked windows and doors, shutting out the world and earning a reputation as the town's "queer one." But tonight is different—Anna urgently needs Helen to come to her house immediately, insisting it's a matter of life and death.
The small town is gripped by fear as a serial killer known as "the lipstick killer" has struck again. Two young women have been murdered with a knife, each victim marked with a distinctive cross drawn in orange lipstick on their foreheads. Phone lines are jammed as panicked residents try to reach the police and mayor's office. Windows that would normally be open on a warm summer evening are locked tight as frightened neighbors huddle inside their homes, knowing a maniac remains at large somewhere in their community.
