The Khaki Handkerchief | A Lady's Shoe - The Black Museum

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_12] This is Orson Welles, speaking from London. The Black Museum, a repository of death. Yes, here in the grim stone structure on the Thames, which houses Scotland Yard, is a warehouse of homicide. Where everyday objects, a teapot, a sewing needle, a folding camera, all are touched by murder.

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_19] Now here's a handkerchief, a khaki handkerchief. Soldiers' handkerchief, common enough sort of thing during the war. A handkerchief stark, fairly clean if a bit moldy. That would be from exposure, Thompson. Looks like army issue. It is, but no hero used it. You can bet on that.

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_12] Well, that handkerchief can be seen today in the Black Museum.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_17] From the annals of the Criminal Investigation Department of the London Police, we bring you the dramatic stories of the crimes recorded by the objects in Scotland Yard's gallery of death. The Black Museum.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_12] We are at the Black Museum in Scotland Yard. Just coming to this silent room. Outside, the Thames is busy with London's river traffic and just upstairs, police communications tap from the teletypes, ring from the telephones.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_12] But here, as I say, is silence. Now here's a length of garden hose. Once it was connected to an exhaust of a car. From there up through the floorboards. The time was winter. The driver rode with all the windows closed and the car crashed. The man died. It wasn't exactly an accident. No, it was murder.

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_12] Here's a German Mauser. War trophy heavy gun. Stranger, tiny woman held it with two hands, smudged her own fingerprints. She was found out. Her hands gave her away. The paraffin test, you know, for gunpowder smoke. Ah, here we are. Here it is, the khaki handkerchief. Originally, it was intended for camouflage. Fairly shouted for recognition at the right time in the wrong place.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_03] Yes. Yet the trouble first appeared is the commonplace ringing of a telephone. Hello? Mrs. Lyons? Yes? This is Liz Hart. How are you? Fine. And you? All right. I'm a little worried, though. Kathy's so late getting home. Is she with Doris? Well, they're not here. I thought Doris was with Kathy at your house. Oh, dear. Now, where have they got to? Oh, probably stopped at one of their friend's houses. Now, don't you worry. Kathy will come home with my Doris and both of them will be full of story.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_12] So ordinary, so commonplace. One mother worries, the other doesn't. Later, around six, the warrior, Mrs. Hart, Kathy's mother, speaks to her husband.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_03] You'll have to speak to Kathy when she gets home. Isn't she home? It's practically dinner time. I thought she was in her room. She's off somewhere. Oh, John, I'm so worried.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_12] You call the places where she might be? Hours ago. No one's seen her. Well, we'll have to wait until 6.30. Then I suppose we'll have to start looking for her. Oh, when will Kathy learn to let us know? 6.30. No Kathy. No word from Kathy. This time the telephone rings and the Hart household. Mrs. Lyons is calling Mrs. Hart.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_12] Yes. I assumed you'd call me if Doris turned up with Kathy at your house. Oh, dear, I wonder where they can have got them, too. A frantic Mrs. Hart cradled the telephone, looks to her husband. Together, they leave the house, go under the darkening street to ring doorbells.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_13] I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm trying to find my girl. But the Carter's haven't seen Kathy. Excuse us, old men, but our Kathy seems to be among the unaccounted for.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_12] No. No. The Bradleys haven't seen Kathy. Sorry to bother you. Have you seen anything of Arlo? No. The Corbett's haven't seen Kathy. Oh, please. I'm almost frantic. Where's my... Oh, no one. No one has seen Kathy. No one's seen Doris.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_12] Word is getting around now. The rumour's spread. The time grows later. All of Penn, rustic Penn in Buckinghamshire, is buzzing now. At the end, the taproom is crowded. Closing time draws near. Still, no word.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_10] Oh, Penn in Landlord speaking. Oh, this is John Hart. Look, Lions and I are together at my place. Do you think some of the men would help us start a search?

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_02] Well, I'll ask them, Mr. Hart. I'm sure they will. Now, you stay right where you are. We'll be along very soon. Can I have your attention, men? Your attention, men. Hart and Lyons need help. They want to start a search.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_19] Now, how many of you fellas will help? After all, neighbours are neighbours. And if we can't help...

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_12] So it begins. The long, hard search continues. It's six hours now they've been missing. It's dark, very, very little lawn. The lanterns of the searchers move around the village of Penn through the fields and the clumps of trees in ever-widening circles. The men beat the fields. At the Hart home, two mothers wait. And wait. And wait.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_13] Yes? Nothing yet. Nothing yet.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_12] The sun rides high above the fields and woods of Buckinghamshire. Sun passes its course, descending behind the hills to the west. Already the searchers, hundreds of them now, have moved outward from Penn, some four miles outward. The night is coming on. The doorbell rings.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_04] Yes?

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_02] Just on my way to the inn, ma'am, for more lanterns. And just to tell you, we'll keep at it all night, if need be.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_11] Then there's nothing yet.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_12] Right again. Now the police are in the search, and within a group of soldiers from the nearby camp, steadily, monotonously, the men work their voices, subdue the lanterns, bobbing and weaving over the countryside, outward, always outward from Penn. And five miles now, six miles. As the radius lengthens, there's more ground to cover. False dawn grazes the sky to the east, and the morning star low in the west begins to pale.

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_14] Found something, matey?

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_02] I found something.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_14] Yeah?

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_02] Covered who believes they were. Just, just behind me here.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_12] The men brought the terribly tragic news back to Penn. In the little wood with its running stream where the bodies were found, two of Scotland Yard's inspectors, Thompson and Stark, took over together.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_12] Now was the time for professionals at manhunting.

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_19] That's container, wooden, out near the road. I don't think they were killed here, do you?

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_19] No, chances are against that. One of the men brought me this. A handkerchief, Stark, fairly clean, if a bit moldy. That would be from exposure, Thompson. Looks like army issue. It is, but no hero used it. You can bet on that. There are tire marks and an oil patch over to the right. Truck tires. Double rear wheels. Army truck, it looks like. Foster casts. The men are making them now. Army truck. Army handkerchief. Anything else? Not yet.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_19] All right, let's get out of here. We've got a killer to find.

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_12] All the routine, these two. But, Grimley, they set about the work. Stark takes the gas mask container, the plastic casts, the handkerchief to the experts at the yard. Thompson stays on in Penn. He visits a different kind of yard.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_05] Doris and Kathy were once my pupils, Inspector. I have a very personal reason for wanting to help you. But just how can I?

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_19] It doesn't need me to tell you, miss, how observant children can be. Now, it occurred to me that some of the kiddies in your school who live near the Hart's home might have noticed something unusual on their way back from school. Of course, it's only a shot in the dark, but a child might remember something that a grown-up would forget.

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_05] I see what you mean, Inspector.

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_19] Right then. Now, who in your class lives near the Hart's?

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_05] Let me see now. Linda Carter. Oh, yes, and Kenneth Bradley. They're playing just over there. Come with me.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_19] Now then, what's your name, young lady?

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_06] Linda. Linda Carter.

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_19] And yours, my lad?

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_06] Kenneth Bradley, sir.

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_19] I understand you two both live in the same street as the Hart's.

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_06] Yes, sir. I live next door. Kenneth's a couple of houses down.

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_19] Right, Kenneth? Yes, sir. Now, I know you'd like to help me if you could. I think your teacher told you I'm from Scotland Yard.

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_05] She sure did. You don't look like a detective.

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_19] Detectives usually don't look like detectives. Now, let me tell you something. We're looking for a truck. A large, heavy truck.

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_05] An army truck, maybe.

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_19] Maybe? Why? Did you see one, say, day before yesterday?

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_05] Yes, sir.

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_19] At the crossroads.

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_06] Just standing there. Oh, I saw it too. It was a big one.

[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_19] Oh, any one in it?

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_06] Just the driver. He had an awful red face. And he had glasses on with silver rings. He was sitting there smoking.

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_19] Can you tell me anything about the truck?

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_06] No, I just remember the man in it. It looked like a wireless truck, but it didn't have any aerial.

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_05] There were those big double wheels on the back. And a number 44 on the door. And a red and blue square on one side. And a tailboard had some letters. J-B, I think. And on the front bumper there was BAT. C-B-M.

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_19] Battery C, prime mover.

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_05] Anything else, Kenneth? Not that I can think of, sir. No, sir.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_19] How old do you think the driver was, Linda? Oh, 26. You seem very sure. Did you ask him?

[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_06] No, sir. But he looked about my father's age. And Daddy's 26. I heard him say so.

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_19] Thank you, Linda. You too, Ken. You've been very helpful. When you come to London, I'll see to it that you're shown through the yard. You'll like that, I'm sure. Eh?

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_12] Inspector Thompson sought out his colleague's stock at Scotland Yard.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_19] I've got good descriptions. The truck and the driver. How about you, old man? Laundry mark and the handkerchief. Print on gas mask container. That's all. Anybody seen them in the truck? A man and a woman. About a mile apart. Along the line from the school towards where... where they were found. Any numbers in the truck? Battery, regiment and division insignia. That laundry mark's going through the mill. Well, H2503 has been checked in every laundry in the county of Buckingham. Good. I'll get on to Army Intelligence.

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_19] We'll find that truck, the outfit that uses it, and the man who drives it. A leaky axle drips oil, does it? We'll see about that.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_12] Well, that handkerchief can be seen today in the Black Museum.

[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_12] It was routine, except for the unforgettable sight of leaf-shrouded bodies in the wood.

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_12] The mechanics of tracing a laundry mark are routine. Preservation of plaster casts of tire marks. That's routine, grim routine. With an inevitability about it, pursuing the routine, Inspector Thompson called Army Intelligence and spoke with a colonel whose main function was liaison with the civilian police.

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_19] Those are the details, colonel.

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_14] Well, uh, 4-4, Ward, MEPA.

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_19] That's it?

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_14] Sounds like one of those Fords and 6x6s we've been getting for our field artillery. I'll call you back, Inspector.

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_19] Thank you.

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_12] Like war, crime detection is largely a matter of waiting. Waiting for information, waiting for results when the wanted alarms are sent out. Waiting for a suspect to appear at a certain place. And now Thompson and Stark waited for answers to their inquiries. In a matter of hours, the answers began to come in.

[00:14:26] [SPEAKER_19] There's a report on the laundry mark, Thompson. Ties in with a series given an army outfit stationed about five miles outside of Penn Village. It begins to fit. It begins to fit.

[00:14:36] [SPEAKER_12] Patiently and grimly, the two men went on waiting. Once again, the telephone.

[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_19] Inspector Thompson here.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_14] Colonel Gardner, Inspector. I have your information.

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_19] Here he comes, Stark. Good. Go ahead, Colonel.

[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_14] That truck apparently belongs to the 44th Battalion Devonshire Blues. A Battery C prime mover.

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_19] Where is that outfit, sir?

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_14] They've been in camp five miles outside Penn Village. They've just been moved to Yoxford on the south coast for the field training.

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_19] Thank you, Colonel.

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_14] Shall I advise the CO down there to expect you?

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_19] If you would, it should take us about, about two hours.

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_14] You move fast, don't you, man?

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_19] Thank you again, sir. If he's still with that outfit, we'll get him. If he's still alive, we'll get him. Yoxford, Stark. Get a car and a driver. We're going to the country.

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_12] Traffic was light and gasoline rationed England. Some two hours later, Thompson and Stark conferred with the Major, commanding the battalion.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_19] Yes, we do have a prime mover with a leaky axle gentleman. As a matter of fact, it's in the shed just outside. May we see it, Major? Yes, of course. This way. I have the tire cart, Stark. Good. Our accommodations are still a bit primitive. No proper garage facilities. We just moved into this setup day before yesterday. We understand, Major. You've been having much trouble with that truck? Oh, yes, yes.

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_19] A few days ago, just before we broke camp near Penn, and that's over in Buckingham, sir. Yes, we know the place. We released the truck to the maintenance depot. Apparently, there isn't much they can do with it. The main differential is a problem. Ah, well, there we are. J.B. on the tailboard. Have a look at the inside, will you? I'll take the tires and the markings. Check. 44 on the door, yes. Big enough. The leg can hardly miss it. Red and blue square. Our battery shoulder patch, Inspector. Yes, I thought so. Markings all checked. Let me see now.

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_19] The tires. Tarpaulin in here, Thompson. Yes, tires checked with the cast stock. Well, we expected that. Here's something on the tarpaulin. What do you make of these stays? Want a guess, old man? Well, your guess is as good as mine, and it'll be confirmed by pathology. Blood.

[00:17:00] Blood.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_19] I think we're through here, Major. May we go back to your office, please?

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_12] Blood on the tarpaulin. Crumpled up and tossed into a corner of the truck.

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_19] I don't think they were killed here, do you? No. Chances are against that. No blood around here.

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_12] But blood on the tarpaulin in the truck. The two detectives and the Major went back to the orderly enrollment.

[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_19] I think we'd better see the driver of that truck, Major. Oh, yes, of course. Sergeant Carroll. Do you know who drives the prime mover for Battery C?

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_02] Oh, well, that'll be Driscoll, sir.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_19] Oh, where is he now?

[00:17:34] [SPEAKER_02] I expect he's in the Battery Day room, sir.

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_19] Oh, bring him over, will you? With his gear. Duffel bag, the whole outfit. Yes, sir.

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_12] The Sergeant turned and left. The Major with Thompson and Stark waited silently. Each busy with his own thoughts.

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_02] An army is a cross-section of the population, they say.

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_19] If this Driscoll did this thing, part of that cross-section, I suppose. That blood sting. I hope there's enough for pathology to type it. Lawn remarks. His shirts and underwear ought to have the same mark as the handkerchief. If he's the man.

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_12] In the day room of Battery C, the situation was normal. The Sergeant walked in without attracting too much attention.

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_19] Oh, here you are, Driscoll. What's up, Sarge?

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_13] You are. Major wants you. Well, what's wrong now? He didn't tell me. Let's get over the quarters first. For what for? Major wants to see your gear. All of it.

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_10] Oh. Let's go.

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_12] Was the waiting over? Out of the seeming anonymity of the army, had they found their man, and so quickly?

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_19] In my office, Sergeant. Yes, sir. Can I Driscoll, Major? Thank you, Sergeant. Dismiss. At ease, Driscoll. Thank you, sir. This is Inspector Thompson and Inspector Stark, Scotland Yard. They have some questions, Driscoll. Answer them. I'll try, sir. Well, he's all yours, gentlemen. May I examine your duffel bag, Driscoll? Of course, sir. The blouse is rather wet, isn't it?

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_19] Caught in the rain, sir. Must have been quite a rain to go through the pockets like this. It was, sir. You're sure you didn't wash it yourself and pack it before it was dried? No, sir. It was the rain, sir. How do you explain this shirt? The cuffs cut off like this. Came back from the laundry with the cuffs all frayed. I cut them off. Only used a shirt round the tractor. I see. Driscoll, does this handkerchief look familiar to you? Like any other handkerchief, Inspector? Thompson.

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_19] The laundry marks. Here. Colored of the shirt. I see it. Well, try again, Driscoll. Look at the laundry marks on the shirt and on the handkerchief. Seems to be yours, doesn't it? I wouldn't know about laundry marks. They're identical, aren't they? Have you had a handkerchief like this recently? All the army issue is the same, sir. We get a lot of trouble getting things back from the laundry. Someone else could have had this handkerchief. Rather a careless laundry, Driscoll. Sorry, sir. Yes, sir.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_19] Have a look at this tarpaulin, Driscoll. Yes, sir. What's your guess about those stains? Grease, sir. That shape? That color? Might be blood, sir. This tarpaulin comes from your truck, Driscoll. I never saw the stain, sir. Might be someone swapped this one for mine. Driscoll, where were you on the 19th? Three days ago. Maintenance depot. Repairs. Leaky axle. Did they repair it? Well, they couldn't. Not in the time we had before we moved down here.

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_19] I see. Anything else, Stark? Not at the moment. Major, we'd appreciate it if you'd hold this man under escort. There are still a few inquiries to be made. Yes, of course, Inspector. Oh, Sergeant, in here, please.

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER_12] There were still the loose ends on identification on the laundry problem. Driscoll wore horn-rimmed glasses. Inspector Thompson asked some more questions.

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_19] I see, Corporal. He wore army issue and suddenly he bought himself the horned frame. You joked with him about it and he didn't like it. Blew angry, did he?

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_12] Inspector Stark visited the regimental laundry depot.

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_19] No complaints from Gunner Driscoll about losing things for him. Never tore or frayed his shirts. I see. Thank you.

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_12] Stark stayed with the shirt. A battery made of Driscoll's had noticed the missing cuffs.

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_19] The night you rolled in here, you noticed the cuffs missing. That was the night of the 20th. Very good.

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_12] Inspector Thompson turned up an interesting item.

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_19] Say that again, Sergeant. Night we came in here, we heard about those two in the woods. We were shooting the breeze about it in the day room.

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_13] All at once, sir, Driscoll looks around and says, 10 to 1, there's a murderer in here. That's what.

[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_12] And once again, a telephone.

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_19] Yes? Oh, it's for you, Inspector. Thank you, Major. Inspector Thompson speaking. He did? I see. It's been checked at criminal records. Good. Very good. Yes, of course I wanted the word at once. Thank you very much. They found something? The crew we left at Penn turned up the second gas mask container. Metal, this one. Had a print on it. They checked in criminal records. The fingerprint belongs to an Oscar Driscoll.

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_19] Served a term eight years ago for molesting and impairing the morals of a minor. Oscar Driscoll, you're under arrest. The charge is willful murder of Kathy Hart and Doris Lyons on the afternoon of October the 19th.

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_12] Well, that handkerchief can be seen today in the Black Museum. The defense, of course, was insanity. The defense tried to prove that Driscoll suffered from schizophrenia, spread personality, that he had no recollection of what he'd done and therefore no legal responsibility. The jury brought in its verdict and finally, this man died at the hands of the public executioner.

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_12] There was apparently no doubt in the minds of the jury that this man had known and planned exactly what he'd done. At any rate, the khaki handkerchief remains in its usual place. In Scotland Yard. In the Black Museum. And now, until next time, till we meet again in the same place, and I tell you another story of the Black Museum,

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_12] I remain as always obediently yours.

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_01] This is Orson Welles, speaking from London.

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_12] The Black Museum.

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_12] A familiar object, high of heel, neat cross straps, daily design on the toe, an excellent sample of the art of the modern bootmaker.

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_07] Like my new shoes, Henry.

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_15] Lovely, my dear. Shows off your instep perfectly. And the way it breaks away from the curve of your art. Enticing. Definitely enticing, my dear.

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_07] Henry, you're impossible. And I love it.

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_12] A nice couple. Talking about a pair of shoes. You'll hear more about that couple. And more about the shoes. One of those shoes, by the way, is to be found today. In the Black Museum.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_17] From the annals of the Criminal Investigation Department of the London Police, we bring you the dramatic stories of the crimes recorded by the objects in Scotland Yard's gallery of death. The Black Museum.

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_12] The Black Museum. Scotland Yard's mausoleum of murder. Here lies death. Yep. And tombed neatly with printed labels.

[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_12] With records of names, places, times. Each white card a kind of tombstone. Very interesting collection in this museum. Here, there's a gardener's clippers. Here's... If you have a hedge around your property, you own one. Long, sharp, triangular blades. They're fine for clipping boxwood. Fine, too, it was learned for... Clipping jugular veins. And here's a true weapon, a revolver, a lady's gun.

[00:27:08] [SPEAKER_12] This little .22. But the lady who used this one one summer evening made very sure of her victim. She coated the tiny bullets with cyanide. And a shoe. Oh, the pair of them, of course. Charming, delightful. That's the type of fragile footwear a lady of some means would be expected to own. Elizabeth Marlowe was just such a lady. And she bought the shoes to please Henry Higley.

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_12] Who'd persuaded her that her age of nearly 40 was not too old for marriage. And she wore them as she drove through the stormy night. Which marked the beginning of her honeymoon.

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_07] The storm seems to be getting worse, Henry, darling.

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_15] Don't worry, my dear. Here's the end. The light's just ahead.

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_07] Too bad the house wasn't ready for us tonight.

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_15] Our first night in our own house?

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_07] I'd have loved it, dear. It's so charming. So Elizabethan. From half-timbers to the moat. Imagine a house with a moat.

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_15] I wanted something Elizabethan, darling. After all, it'll be a setting for my Elizabeth.

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_12] Gay, happy conversation, honeymoon talk. In spite of the rain pouring over the windshield. In spite of the dramatic lightning and the rolling thunder. Henry helped Elizabeth out of the worst of the rain. Handed her to a fine little terrier named Patsy, which Elizabeth insisted on bringing with her. And then knocked on the door of Webley's Inn.

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_15] Sorry to keep you waiting. Come on, please. I'm Henry Higley. This is my wife.

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_04] You're Martha Webley. I've given you up. What with the weather and all?

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_07] We wouldn't have missed this for the world, Mrs. Webley. The storm. Well, it's almost romantic.

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_04] Oh, the little doll. Oh, isn't he sweet? Are our rooms ready, Mrs. Webley? Oh, of course. And a fire going against the storm. Oh, and may I take the opportunity, ma'am, sir, of wishing you all the happiness?

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_12] The Higley stayed at the Webley and for several weeks until the house was ready. The Elizabethan house with the half-timbers and the moat standing on the edge of the moor. As Martha Webley put it...

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_07] They were so happy. Middle-aged, but happy as kids.

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_12] If laughter and enjoyment of simple things is happiness, then Henry and Elizabeth knew happiness. They drove over to their house each day and each evening. They discussed its progress. Would you like the moat, reindeer?

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_07] But the water is part of it. Without the water, it would be just a ditch.

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_15] I thought perhaps you'd like to make a rose garden out of it.

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_12] But there was a garden at the rear of the house. So the water stayed in the moat. The mock drawbridge was always down and very soon Henry carried Elizabeth across the bridge and into their home.

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_07] Home at last. It's going to be wonderful, dear. Glad you bought the place? We bought it, darling.

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_15] With your money, sweet.

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_07] What's mine is yours. Ours, darling, always. Now come along upstairs.

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_12] There's always a lot to do in a ten-room house. Nobody with any sense tries to run a place of that size without help. So Henry, with Elizabeth's approval, he interviewed several local young ladies. What's your name, young woman?

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_04] June Godwin, sir. And here's my reference.

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_15] Hmm. Yes. I see. Upstairs maid, also parlour maid. Any cooking?

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_04] Just plain cooking, sir.

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_15] My wife and I are plain people. We thought we'd try to get along without a regular cook. For a while at least.

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_04] I'll do my best, sir.

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_15] I'm sure you will.

[00:31:02] [SPEAKER_04] Then I'm hard, Mr. Wigley.

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_15] Why not? You have a good reference. That'll please your mistress. And you have your share of good looks. That pleases me.

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_12] Well, that was the way the wind blew, was it? And so soon after the wedding. Well, well, well. Little June Godwin went about her business, dismissing the remark as the pleasantry of a new employer who wanted to feel at home.

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_12] Now Henry established the custom in that household of giving his wife her breakfast in bed. June prepared the tray and took it upstairs. She'd been doing this for about a week.

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_15] My, don't we look fresh and neat and beautiful this morning?

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_04] Please, sir. Don't.

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_15] Shy, are you, eh? With those eyes and that figure? Come here, little one.

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_04] No, sir. Please.

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_15] What do the boys hereabouts think of you?

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_04] I wouldn't know, sir. If you'll excuse me, sir, I'll take the tray to Mrs. Higley.

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_12] Handled herself well, didn't she, for a country girl? There's no nonsense about June Godwin. She needed the job. She was a loyal girl, loyal to her mistress and to herself in a way. Maybe that's why she spoke as she did. She deposited the breakfast tray in Elizabeth Higley's bedroom.

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_04] Ma'am, if I can speak to you a minute. Of course, June. What's the trouble? It's about Mr. Higley, ma'am. Oh. He, well, ma'am, it's not that I'm giving my notice or anything, but I'm a nice girl, ma'am.

[00:32:49] [SPEAKER_07] Of course you are.

[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_04] Mr. Higley, ma'am, you tried to take privileges this morning. Perhaps you'd better try to carry...

[00:32:56] [SPEAKER_12] June finally managed to tell her mistress the brief details. Elizabeth was hardly pleased, but she showed nothing of her feelings to Henry, at least on that score. Of course, there may have been something more than a slight edge to her tone later that day. As she said to him...

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_07] There's a notice from the bank, Henry. It says my account is overdrawn. Oh? How much? Almost 300 pounds. This never happened to me before I added your signature to the account.

[00:33:25] [SPEAKER_15] Oh, but there was plenty there.

[00:33:27] [SPEAKER_07] Oh, I know. But there's a check here which I thought was for 30 pounds, and it turns out it would be for 300.

[00:33:33] [SPEAKER_15] I thought I told you, darling. It was 300. In any case, dear, your dividends are due in a few days, so let's not worry about it.

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_12] A simple explanation, and very smooth. Just the type of explanation an infatuated woman can be expected to accept, but for Elizabeth, the infatuation and the honeymoon were over. They came to an abrupt end about a week later.

[00:33:59] [SPEAKER_15] Mr. June, I want to see you a moment.

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_04] Can it wait till morning, Mr. Hickley? Please. Impossible.

[00:34:05] [SPEAKER_00] I must see you now.

[00:34:06] [SPEAKER_04] I can't let you in. I'm in bed. I'm not dressed. That doesn't matter.

[00:34:10] [SPEAKER_15] Let me in, June. I have to talk to you now. I'll use my master key. Open up and let me in. Shut up, you little fool. Open the door. All right. But we'll settle this and soon. Soon.

[00:34:30] [SPEAKER_04] Are you ill? Mrs. Hickley. Mrs. Hickley.

[00:34:38] [SPEAKER_07] I understand, Duke. It was my husband. Again. Wasn't it?

[00:34:47] [SPEAKER_08] Under the honeymoon.

[00:34:54] [SPEAKER_12] It came quickly after that. Elizabeth said simply,

[00:34:58] [SPEAKER_07] Henry, I'm leaving you. I'm going to London to talk with my lawyer.

[00:35:02] [SPEAKER_15] After your talk with him, you'll change your mind. I'm taking a servant's word against mine. Really, my dear. What train are you making? I'll drive you into town.

[00:35:12] [SPEAKER_12] A little while later, Henry dropped into the kitchen and told June quite coolly.

[00:35:16] [SPEAKER_15] I'm driving Mrs. Hickley into the station. She's going up to London. I'll pick her up on the 9.45 tonight when she comes back.

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_12] At 9.15 that night, Henry told the servant girl.

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_15] I'm going in to pick up Mrs. Hickley. We should be back a little after 10. And at 10.15, Henry came back. Funny. Mrs. Hickley wasn't at the station. She must have missed the train and decided to stay in town for the night. And then the next day... I've had a letter from Mrs. Hickley. She's staying with relatives in London for a few days. Nothing to worry about. But June did worry.

[00:35:51] [SPEAKER_12] And she took her worries to her mother.

[00:35:54] [SPEAKER_04] I'm sure he's lying, Mums. I'm sure of it. Now, Junie, don't be excitable. I'm not, Mums. I'm not. He told me he was going to the station to call for her. But I didn't hear the car. Perhaps you weren't paying attention. He said he had a letter. And the postman never called that morning. And last night, you tried to get into my room again. I won't go back, Mums. Now I'm home again. I won't go back.

[00:36:21] [SPEAKER_17] Orson Welles will be back with you in just a moment.

[00:36:29] [SPEAKER_12] This was gossip. Oh, yes. Gossip indeed. But Mrs. Goodwin restrained herself for a while. After all, there was only one other person in the village who knew the Hickley's. That was Mrs. Webley at the inn. Yes, Mrs. Webley.

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_04] Now, what's all that? Why, it's the Hickley dog. Patsy. Oh, here, Patsy. What's the trouble, doggie? Miss your mistress, is that it? Do you miss your mistress?

[00:37:04] [SPEAKER_12] The shoe, by the way, reposes today in an honored position. In the Black Museum. A dog howls at the back door and whines with fear.

[00:37:33] [SPEAKER_12] Then it wags its tail and snuffles in appreciation of a pat on the head. But mention its mistress, and the howling begins again. Is this a clue to a possible crime? Certainly it'd have no meaning in a court of law. Clever defense counsel would have it stricken from the records within minutes. But it would have meaning among plain people who are sensitive to many of the laws of nature.

[00:38:03] [SPEAKER_04] Another cup of tea, Mrs. Gutwin. No, thank you, Mrs. Webley. June, dearie. I couldn't touch a thing. I'm so upset about the poor little dog. Oh, she's all right. I'm sure that... But you said you called the moat house and he came for the dog right away. Oh, I doubt he'll hurt the little animal. Has other things on his mind he has with that one working for him. That Muriel, you mean? Exactly. And glad I am that my June up and left him when she did. Have you seen or heard of Mrs. Higley, dear? Not a word. No sign.

[00:38:30] [SPEAKER_04] But then, maybe she knows about that Muriel.

[00:38:33] [SPEAKER_12] Three people knew about that Muriel by now. A new hired girl at Henry Higley's house. And before very long, others would know. But this held no foreboding for Henry Higley.

[00:38:44] [SPEAKER_08] Now for that Muriel. Now, Mr. Higley, you mustn't.

[00:38:50] [SPEAKER_15] Why not, my dear? Who's to know except you and me?

[00:38:53] [SPEAKER_04] Oh, Mr. Higley, how you do go on. Oh, Mr. Higley.

[00:38:57] [SPEAKER_15] Give us a kiss, pretty one. But never say I told you we went with a job.

[00:39:02] [SPEAKER_04] Oh, well, just one.

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_15] Muriel, when are you going to stop calling me Mr. Higley, eh?

[00:39:09] [SPEAKER_12] A kind of mean paradise, surrounded by a moat filled with water, reached by a mock drawbridge which was never raised. And into that pseudo-idyllic setting, across that bridge, there strode a caller. He rang the doorbell.

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER_04] Yes, sir?

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_18] Is Mr. Higley at home?

[00:39:35] [SPEAKER_04] Who might be calling, sir?

[00:39:37] [SPEAKER_18] Inspector Sterrett, Scotland Yard.

[00:39:39] [SPEAKER_12] Three people knew. And soon many more. Word spread. The police evince some interest. The inspector called and was invited in. He was offered a drink. Tea. He refused, politely.

[00:39:53] [SPEAKER_18] Oh, thanks, Mr. Higley. No, I've only a short while. May I ask the whereabouts of Mrs. Higley? Of course you may ask. As far as I know, she's staying with friends in London. I have some letters, if you can see them. Oh, we'll take your word for it, Mr. Higley. But there's been some talk. Ugly rumors. As you understand, I'm sure. Yes, I had to discharge a servant girl. We were given to understand she left of her own accord. Not at all. The girl seemed a trifle hard of hearing. Couldn't hear my car on the driveway. Missed the postman's whistle constantly. I see.

[00:40:23] [SPEAKER_18] And then there's the little dog. Seems to have been howling a bit.

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_15] Oh, if you look out of the window there in the back garden, eh? Seems quite contented, doesn't she? Yes, yes, yes, she does.

[00:40:35] [SPEAKER_18] Well, thank you very much for the courtesy.

[00:40:37] [SPEAKER_12] The inspector took his leave. When the door closed behind him, Henry Higley did some thinking. The next day he spoke to Muriel.

[00:40:46] [SPEAKER_15] How would you like to take a trip with me, Muriel?

[00:40:49] [SPEAKER_04] Oh, you mean close at the house?

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_15] Why not?

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_04] I'm not sure I want to go away. Oh, you're a sweet man, Henry, but I live here.

[00:40:57] [SPEAKER_15] You've no idea how we could live, what fun we could have. I can draw all the cash from the banks in ten and twenty-five pound notes, so it wouldn't take too much room. And we could have a time in London, a real time. I advise him to...

[00:41:08] [SPEAKER_12] So Henry planned a little trip. And he took the trip. Oddly enough, Muriel didn't go along. Her permanent tie was not on her plans at the moment. She stayed behind in the house with a little dog for company. All was quiet after Henry went away. Inactive?

[00:41:40] [SPEAKER_18] Tell me, Mr. Marlow, when did you last hear from your sister?

[00:41:43] [SPEAKER_16] Elizabeth wrote to us just after she moved into the house with her husband. I'm afraid we never answered her. The family disapproved of Higley, you see. Oh, any particular reason? Well, he was penniless. Elizabeth, as you probably know, has a nice income from quite a bit of capital.

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_18] She bought the house, you see. Yes, yes, we heard about that. That's one reason we sought you out, Mr. Marlow.

[00:42:06] [SPEAKER_16] Are you intimating the possibility of trouble, Inspector?

[00:42:11] [SPEAKER_18] There's always the possibility when a grown person disappears without a trace. And there have been rumors and a few odd coincidences. In any case, we checked the bank. The manager showed us these papers. Oh, what are they? A deed transfer giving full title to the house and property to Henry Higley. Is this your sister's signature, Mr. Marlow?

[00:42:30] [SPEAKER_16] Oh, let me see. I need my glasses, I'm afraid. Now then. Oh, strange. Looks like hers. But she's suddenly grown old. It wavers so. There, for instance. The L and the W and the Marlow. Elizabeth Marlow Higley. Inspector. I want to compare it with her letters.

[00:42:58] [SPEAKER_16] But I think I can say with reasonable certainty that this is not my sister's signature. Thank you, Mr. Marlow. Thank you.

[00:43:11] [SPEAKER_18] To all stations. Alert for one Henry Higley. Wanted for forgery. Notify all banks. The following serial numbers are of 25 pound notes connected with forgery cases. Appearance of any of these notes to be called to the attention of the local police at once in the usual manner.

[00:43:37] [SPEAKER_12] At long last, the hunt was on. The charge pending. Forgery. The days passed. Nothing was reported. Though an occasional bank note with a proper serial number did turn up in the ordinary course of business. Patiently, the places where the notes appeared were charted.

[00:43:53] [SPEAKER_18] First Ramsgate. Then Dover. A week later, Folkestone. I imagine we'll find you spent a few days in Paris. After that, Kingston. I expect we'll be hearing from London itself shortly. From London itself.

[00:44:12] [SPEAKER_00] How long did it take to change a mere 25 pounds? One would think the Bank of England has that much cash in small denominations lying about.

[00:44:19] [SPEAKER_17] I beg pardon, sir. Are you the gentleman wanting to change this note? I am. Would you mind stepping this way for a moment, sir? I'm rather in a hurry. Is something the matter with this? With the note? No. My credentials, sir. I see. Detective Inspector Andrews. And you, sir? Higley. Henry Higley.

[00:44:35] [SPEAKER_15] Why all the mystery, Inspector?

[00:44:37] [SPEAKER_17] I'm afraid I shall have to ask you to come with us, sir. You see, the serial number of this bank note and several others have been published in a small matter of forgery. Forgery?

[00:44:45] [SPEAKER_16] What's that to do with me?

[00:44:47] [SPEAKER_17] I'm sure you had nothing to do with it, Mr. Higley. And that you'll be most anxious to cooperate with the police. This way, sir, if you don't mind.

[00:44:56] [SPEAKER_12] Henry did mind. His sense of cooperation became stunted quite suddenly. He found very little to tell Inspector Sterrett and Andrews. Of course I drew the money.

[00:45:08] [SPEAKER_18] It was a joint account I had a right to. And what is your explanation of the transfer of the house? There's none I can give you now. When Elizabeth returns...

[00:45:15] [SPEAKER_17] Where is your wife, Higley? She didn't say. Just staying with friends. Any reason for that? Well, we had a bottle. A lover's bottle.

[00:45:23] [SPEAKER_18] She'll get over it when she comes back. You seem very certain she will come back. Have you any reason, Inspector, to doubt that she will? No, not at the moment. Nor any reason to doubt that you will be here awaiting her. You mean to say you're thinking of holding me on charges? Frankly, we are. You see, Higley, we did a little routine checking. We found that you'd been arrested three times. Convicted once. In each case, the charge was swindling women who were old enough to know better. So we are holding you, Higley.

[00:45:52] [SPEAKER_18] And the charge is forgery.

[00:45:59] [SPEAKER_12] The direction of the search changed somewhat. Henry Higley was safe, and he'd remained so. Until Elizabeth Marlowe Higley was found.

[00:46:10] [SPEAKER_04] We've no right to take the house apart like this. Mr. Higley will be...

[00:46:13] [SPEAKER_18] I'm sorry, my girl. We have a warrant.

[00:46:15] [SPEAKER_04] I don't understand, sir. What are you looking for?

[00:46:19] [SPEAKER_18] Not what, my girl. Whom? We're looking for Mrs. Higley.

[00:46:23] [SPEAKER_04] In the cupboards and under the floor. No. Oh, it isn't true. It didn't. She went away...

[00:46:33] [SPEAKER_12] They took the house apart and put it back together again. Nothing. They dragged the moat around the house. Nothing. Then they drained it.

[00:46:44] [SPEAKER_17] There it is, stir it. Dry as it ever will be, and nothing. Not a sign. Mud looks mighty deep. It's a quagmire down there. Watch this. Takes that stone as if it were nothing. He couldn't have thrown a body that far out, and there's no sign of anything on the sides. He might have waded out, Andrews. The water wasn't particularly deep. He'd have gone in up to his waist if he'd tried that. You know, it takes good soil to make mud like that. Yes, I noticed. Funny the way they let the garden go to sea. Oh, it's not too bad.

[00:47:14] [SPEAKER_17] Except for that patch of stunted bush over there, there, where the dog's lying. Yes, let's have a look at that, shall we? You never quit, do you, stir it?

[00:47:24] [SPEAKER_18] Human beings can't disappear without a trace. They just don't, that's all. Oh, that's a good dog. There we are. There, there, there. These aren't stunted, Andrews.

[00:47:35] [SPEAKER_17] These are new plantings. You're right. Look here, the whole area, straight to the moat. This earth was turned, and fairly recently, at least ten yards of it. That's a ditch, Andrews.

[00:47:44] [SPEAKER_18] A ditch that has been filled in. I think maybe we ought to start digging hereabouts.

[00:48:00] [SPEAKER_17] Eight hours now, and still nothing. There'll be nothing. Another good idea gone wrong. Shall I tell the men to stop? Yes, you may as well. Sterrett!

[00:48:11] [SPEAKER_18] That dog! She's found something. Yes, something she's recognized. Get those lights over here, man. All right, they're coming up here. All right. Yeah, come on, you. All right. You can start digging again, but carefully now. All around that spot. It's pretty obvious, Andrews. There's a body attached to that lady's shoe.

[00:48:33] [SPEAKER_12] And as I told you at the beginning of this story, that shoe reposes today in an honored position in the Black Museum. The medical examiner swore that a .32 caliber bullet had killed Elizabeth Marlowe. The ballistics expert testified the bullet had come from the gun in Henry Higley's possession the day of his arrest in the Bank of England. Another expert adjusted the noose,

[00:49:01] [SPEAKER_12] placed the white hood over Higley's head, heard the man whisper the admission of his guilt, and sprang the trap. Martha Webley has Patsy now. And the little dog enjoys the fields around Webley's inn. A fit reward, I think you'll agree, for the faithfulness which brought her mistress's killer to final justice. And as I told you, the dainty shoe remains in its customary position

[00:49:31] [SPEAKER_12] in that big stone building on the Thames in Scotland Yard in the Black Museum. Now, until next time, until another story about the Black Museum, I remain, as always, obediently yours. to a lot of the earth. but what's most important is,

[00:49:47] in the clairvoyance And we're asked what I believe the