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The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe - "Phantom Fingers" (1951) · Old Time Mystery Radio | Old Time Radio

0:00
Speaker 1: An upstate trip for rare black orchids leaves Nero Wolfe
0:03
Speaker 1: and Archie Goodwin stranded at an isolated house when a
0:07
Speaker 1: storm washes out the bridge. Among unfamiliar occupants cut off
0:12
Speaker 1: from the road, a murder turns the journey into a
0:15
Speaker 1: case for Wolfe and a round of inquiries for Archie.
0:19
Speaker 1: From NBC, this is The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe,
0:23
Speaker 1: Phantom Fingers, episode 15, first heard January 26, 1951. Sidney
0:30
Speaker 1: Greenstreet stars as Wolf with Gerald Moore as Archie Goodwin.
0:35
Speaker 1: Howard McNair, Tim Graham, Eddie Fields, and Gage Pearson are
0:39
Speaker 1: also heard. Ladies and gentlemen, we now take you back
0:44
Speaker 1: to the original broadcast.
0:48
Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, the ringing of that phone bell means mystery, adventure.
0:53
Speaker 3: Nero Wolf's office, Archie Goodwin speaking.
0:56
Speaker 4: What?
0:56
Speaker 3: What? You're expecting Mr. Wolfe at your place in three hours?
1:01
Speaker 3: Your place is where?
1:04
Speaker 4: Yes.
1:05
Speaker 3: Well, I'm expecting Hedy Lamarr in 15 minutes. Yeah, but, mister,
1:08
Speaker 3: we're both out of luck. Archie, what are you babbling about?
1:11
Speaker 3: There's a character on the phone who's laboring under the
1:13
Speaker 3: naive delusion that you're about to make a trip upstate.
1:16
Speaker 4: His name?
1:17
Speaker 3: Finley, he said.
1:18
Speaker 4: In that case, he's quite correct.
1:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's quite... Yes, Mr.
1:23
Speaker 4: Finley, Mr. Wolfe will be there.
1:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, goodbye. I shall need some beer, Archie. The bottle
1:29
Speaker 3: opener's in the right-hand drawer.
1:31
Speaker 4: Thank you.
1:31
Speaker 3: What one of us needs is a psychiatrist. You're voluntarily
1:35
Speaker 3: leaving your happy home, exposing yourself to the elements, entrusting
1:39
Speaker 3: your only life to a savage automobile?
1:41
Speaker 4: I am.
1:42
Speaker 3: Oh, somebody's offered you the United States Treasury, huh?
1:46
Speaker 4: Mr. Finley happens to grow orchids. Among them, he has
1:50
Speaker 4: developed a plant possessing spurred libelly. I have an opportunity
1:54
Speaker 4: to purchase a couple of the plants, therefore.
1:57
Speaker 3: I don't believe it.
1:58
Speaker 4: But, Archie, according to the reports I have received, he
2:01
Speaker 4: has produced a strain of black cypropidium.
2:04
Speaker 3: Oh, well, in that case.
2:07
Speaker 4: But, Mr.
2:07
Speaker 3: Wolfe, while it's true that black may be the color
2:09
Speaker 3: of your true love's hair, it is also true that
2:12
Speaker 3: black is the color of funerals. Oh!
2:31
Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, it's the detective genius who writes the
2:35
Speaker 2: knife and fork, the greatest tools ever invented by man.
2:38
Speaker 2: The ponderous, brilliant, and unpredictable Nero Wolfe, created by Rex
2:43
Speaker 2: Stout and brought to you in the person of Mr.
2:46
Speaker 3: Sidney Greenstreet.
2:54
Speaker 3: The beginning of the case of the Phantom Fingers actually
3:02
Speaker 3: had nothing to do with Black Orchids. The first act
3:05
Speaker 3: was played in an old house at the end of
3:07
Speaker 3: an old dirt road. It was short and simple. As
3:11
Speaker 3: short as life. And as simple as murder. Joe, I
3:19
Speaker 3: didn't believe the letters I got. Didn't believe them until now.
3:24
Speaker 3: I've been a lonely man.
3:25
Speaker 4: No wife, children.
3:27
Speaker 3: Joe, it was all coming to you after I died.
3:30
Speaker 4: There was no need for you to steal from me.
3:32
Speaker 3: All you had to do was wait.
3:34
Speaker 4: Joe, that gun.
3:36
Speaker 3: Put it down.
3:37
Speaker 4: No, no, no. Archie.
3:48
Speaker 3: Yes, Mr. Wolfe.
3:50
Speaker 4: How much longer?
3:51
Speaker 3: Oh, an hour maybe.
3:52
Speaker 4: Why?
3:53
Speaker 3: Why?
3:53
Speaker 4: I'm a fool.
3:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, payday's tomorrow. I refuse to agree with you. Besides,
3:58
Speaker 3: the trip's been fine so far, huh? So there's snow
4:01
Speaker 3: on the road, but.
4:02
Speaker 4: Fooey.
4:03
Speaker 3: Well, it's nice snow. Pretty soon it'll be spring and
4:06
Speaker 3: in the spring.
4:07
Speaker 4: If you mention old Tidmouse once more, I shall strangle you.
4:11
Speaker 3: No, no, it's against the law. But you know, if
4:14
Speaker 3: that snow melts much faster, the trees won't look so pretty.
4:17
Speaker 4: Trees, are they really necessary?
4:19
Speaker 3: Uh-huh. People cut them down and make paper out of them.
4:23
Speaker 3: And they take the paper and make dollar bills. Mr. Wolf,
4:27
Speaker 3: we're surrounded by future fees.
4:29
Speaker 4: I prefer the finished product. What on earth is that?
4:34
Speaker 3: Sounds like a river.
4:35
Speaker 4: Indeed.
4:36
Speaker 3: Except there aren't any rivers around here. Hey!
4:39
Speaker 4: Yeah? Up ahead. What? It's a river.
4:44
Speaker 3: Only it isn't a river.
4:45
Speaker 4: It's wet.
4:46
Speaker 3: It's wet and it's got waves on it. Had to
4:48
Speaker 3: start raining, too.
4:50
Speaker 4: Nature. Fooey.
4:51
Speaker 3: The road behind us is covered with water. Just have
4:54
Speaker 3: to keep going onward and upward.
4:56
Speaker 4: Would you like to recite Excelsior to me? Why, sure.
5:01
Speaker 3: Shades of night were falling fast when through an alpine
5:03
Speaker 3: village passed.
5:04
Speaker 4: An idiot of your caliber, no doubt.
5:07
Speaker 3: Oh.
5:10
Speaker 4: Ah, an infernal engine has died.
5:12
Speaker 3: No, no, the road dips up ahead. And where it dips,
5:15
Speaker 3: there's a junior Mississippi growing up.
5:17
Speaker 4: Splendid.
5:18
Speaker 3: Not so splendid. We can't go back and we can't
5:20
Speaker 3: go forward.
5:21
Speaker 4: Why not?
5:21
Speaker 3: They didn't build this model to swim.
5:23
Speaker 4: No foresight. What do we do now?
5:26
Speaker 3: Well, we could abandon the car and.
5:29
Speaker 4: Walk? Are you mad? Are you seriously suggesting I indulge
5:32
Speaker 4: in a foot race with the flood?
5:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, not seriously, but....
5:38
Speaker 4: You've decided to give the car a swimming lesson?
5:40
Speaker 3: No. No? There's what looks like a cow path leading
5:43
Speaker 3: off the highway.
5:44
Speaker 4: To your right.
5:45
Speaker 3: Maybe it's a road. We progress.
5:48
Speaker 4: We now follow the footstep of the cow.
5:51
Speaker 3: Ah, it is a road. An old dirt road. Not
5:55
Speaker 3: only that, it goes up.
5:56
Speaker 4: Is that good? Theoretically.
5:58
Speaker 3: We might get above the water that way.
6:01
Speaker 4: And if the theory fails? Mr.
6:03
Speaker 3: Wolfe, how are you on the Australian crawl?
6:07
Speaker 4: Hey, there's been another.
6:09
Speaker 3: Car on this road before us. You can see the
6:12
Speaker 3: tire tracks in the mud.
6:14
Speaker 4: Interesting. An indication that there are other maniacs about. I
6:20
Speaker 4: myself would not have chosen this particular spot to picnic in.
6:24
Speaker 3: It's not that. There's somebody lying on the road.
6:28
Speaker 4: People have peculiar habits. Ignore him and drive on.
6:31
Speaker 1: Uh-uh.
6:32
Speaker 3: Hold on a moment. Mr. Wolfe, you better come out here.
6:46
Speaker 4: My madness has its limits. The answer is no. Serious, Archie?
6:51
Speaker 3: Very serious.
6:53
Speaker 4: Oh, very well. Good heavens.
7:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's still alive, but.
7:07
Speaker 4: The man's being shoddy.
7:08
Speaker 3: Joe.
7:08
Speaker 4: He's yelling for Joe. Be still. Don't.
7:14
Speaker 3: Forgive stealing.
7:16
Speaker 4: Don't... So much for that. Pick him up, Archie. Put
7:22
Speaker 4: him in the car.
7:23
Speaker 3: Might be bad for him to be moved.
7:24
Speaker 4: No. There is nothing that can be bad for him.
7:27
Speaker 4: He's dead. Is this blasted road leading anywhere, Archie?
7:39
Speaker 3: Well, seems to be a clearing up ahead.
7:40
Speaker 4: Maybe.
7:42
Speaker 5: Hey, it's a house.
7:43
Speaker 4: Splendid.
7:43
Speaker 3: I'm not so sure. It's perched up on top of
7:46
Speaker 3: a cliff, surrounded on three sides by nothing. On the
7:49
Speaker 3: side facing us, there's a deep ravine and a small
7:52
Speaker 3: wooden bridge.
7:53
Speaker 4: An island in the air.
7:55
Speaker 3: Yeah. High enough to keep above water, maybe, but... Now,
7:59
Speaker 3: that bridge doesn't look too good. Rain may have weakened it.
8:02
Speaker 4: You have no choice, Archie. I have no intention of
8:05
Speaker 4: being drowned in these barbatic surroundings. The bridge, Archie. Okay.
8:10
Speaker 3: Hold on.
8:13
Speaker 4: Nope, the thing's collapsing under us. How many men do
8:16
Speaker 4: you serve?
8:16
Speaker 3: Well, if a dozen 37 blondes are going to be
8:18
Speaker 3: wearing black, correction 38. I forgot the one in Gimble's
8:22
Speaker 3: bargain basement.
8:27
Speaker 4: Hey, we made it.
8:29
Speaker 3: The bridge will never be the same, though. There's a
8:32
Speaker 3: car ahead of us in front of the house.
8:35
Speaker 4: The car from which our friend, our dead friend, was thrown.
8:39
Speaker 4: Only one set of car tracks in the mud along
8:41
Speaker 4: the road, and here... And all we have to do
8:43
Speaker 4: is walk in, ask for the owner of the house, and, uh... Possibly.
8:46
Speaker 4: Possibly not.
8:48
Speaker 3: Archie, go through the corpse's pockets. Oh, that's not cricket. Yeah,
8:51
Speaker 3: all right, all right. I'm going through. Not much on him. Handkerchief. Silver.
8:58
Speaker 3: Driver's license. The name was, uh, James Miller. Address Garner Lane. Walden. Now,
9:08
Speaker 3: I've got an idea this is Garner Lane, Mr.
9:09
Speaker 2: Wolfe.
9:10
Speaker 4: In which case, someone named Joe was looking after the
9:13
Speaker 4: house for him, committed theft, and murdered Miller. Miller's body
9:17
Speaker 4: was then dumped on the road in the hopes that
9:19
Speaker 4: the floods would wash the body away. No one at
9:23
Speaker 4: the house seems to have noticed our arrival.
9:26
Speaker 5: Nope.
9:27
Speaker 3: Well, let's go in and ask for Joe, huh?
9:29
Speaker 4: Very well. Uh... Todd, with.
9:38
Speaker 1: The bridge down, there's absolutely no way of getting on
9:41
Speaker 1: or off this bridge.
9:42
Speaker 3: Except for a mountain goat. I don't know any mountain goats.
9:47
Speaker 3: I used to know a plain goat once, though. Indeed.
9:50
Speaker 3: He ran at the Fifth at Jamaica.
9:51
Speaker 4: Stop maundering.
9:52
Speaker 3: I never maundered. Also, I never win bets on horse races.
9:56
Speaker 3: That's why I continue to work for you.
9:58
Speaker 4: That is all so wise. you had better ring the doorbell.
10:02
Speaker 3: Okay, okay. Nobody's going to break a leg rushing to
10:08
Speaker 3: open the door. Suppose you try it. I have it
10:11
Speaker 3: more than enough of the weather.
10:12
Speaker 4: Is that polite?
10:14
Speaker 3: Besides, the killer may have some more bullets in that gun.
10:16
Speaker 4: Are you afraid? Sure.
10:17
Speaker 3: Hooray.
10:18
Speaker 4: The door, Archie.
10:19
Speaker 3: But old Dr.
10:20
Speaker 4: Tidmouse would say, never mind. Hey, somebody was careless leaving
10:26
Speaker 4: the door open like that. On the other hand, does
10:29
Speaker 4: a spider ever shut its web? The answer is no.
10:32
Speaker 4: Are we flies?
10:34
Speaker 3: Yes.
10:35
Speaker 4: Out of my way, Archie.
10:39
Speaker 3: There are lights up ahead. Must be the living room.
10:42
Speaker 4: Excuse me.
10:44
Speaker 3: Sure, sure, your excuse.
10:45
Speaker 4: Do you live here, sir? Do we.
10:49
Speaker 3: No, don't you?
10:50
Speaker 4: Of course not. This is very strange. I came out
10:53
Speaker 4: to see the people who live here, or the person.
10:56
Speaker 4: I found the door open and no one about. I've
10:59
Speaker 4: been sitting in this corner now for a long time. Oh,
11:01
Speaker 4: it's a pity no one offered you a plum pie.
11:03
Speaker 4: Then you could have stuck in your thumb. You saw
11:06
Speaker 4: no one enter, sir? No one at all. I didn't
11:08
Speaker 4: want to go any further. It would have seemed like prying.
11:11
Speaker 4: Perhaps you had better come along with us. Well, all right.
11:17
Speaker 4: You know, this place, it has an evil atmosphere.
11:21
Speaker 3: It certainly has. What it needs is fresh air.
11:23
Speaker 4: This would be the living room door. Enjoy it.
11:29
Speaker 3: It is. Looks as pretty as a picture.
11:31
Speaker 4: Oh. Hello. Well, just think of it. Five minutes ago,
11:38
Speaker 4: you know, I didn't know you existed. And you didn't
11:42
Speaker 4: know I existed.
11:44
Speaker 3: And now.
11:44
Speaker 4: Archie, your existence would have a sudden end unless you
11:48
Speaker 4: keep quiet.
11:49
Speaker 5: Ah.
11:49
Speaker 4: Excuse us for intruding, Miss.
11:51
Speaker 5: Intruding? Oh, but I really should ask you to excuse me.
11:54
Speaker 4: You do not live here?
11:56
Speaker 5: I wish I did, but... You see, I've been out walking.
11:59
Speaker 5: I live maybe a whole mile from here, and then
12:02
Speaker 5: when the flood began, I thought I'd come in here
12:04
Speaker 5: and stay for a while.
12:05
Speaker 4: And you found?
12:06
Speaker 5: An empty house.
12:07
Speaker 3: That's not what I found.
12:08
Speaker 5: Hey.
12:09
Speaker 3: As old Dr. Tidmouse has often said... Go through the
12:12
Speaker 3: rest of the house, Archie. Go through the rest... Well,
12:14
Speaker 3: never mind.
12:15
Speaker 4: I'll, uh... Shh. What's that sound?
12:19
Speaker 3: Somebody's walking. Coming downstairs. I'll go and see.
12:23
Speaker 4: Hey, you! Come on into the living room.
12:28
Speaker 3: Meet your guests in one or several pieces, as you prefer.
12:31
Speaker 4: You what?
12:33
Speaker 3: Oh.
12:34
Speaker 4: Hiya, folks. Ah, a host at last. That's very funny.
12:39
Speaker 4: I think I'll laugh. May I ask why? Because this
12:43
Speaker 4: here ain't my dump. I was just casing the joint.
12:46
Speaker 4: I mean, I was just taking a stroll. Through the house?
12:50
Speaker 4: I'm eccentric.
12:51
Speaker 3: Oh, clever.
12:52
Speaker 4: However, I think you'd better stay. Why? Because you may
12:55
Speaker 4: turn out to be the owner of this house after all.
12:58
Speaker 4: I rather think introductions are in order.
13:01
Speaker 5: I'll unpeg Shirley.
13:03
Speaker 4: My name is Wagner. Joseph Wagner? Lewis.
13:06
Speaker 3: How about you, Strolland?
13:07
Speaker 4: Cregan. Sam Cregan. Hmm. Peg, Huey, Sam. Mr. Cregan, while
13:14
Speaker 4: you were strolling upstairs, did you notice anyone else about? No.
13:19
Speaker 4: There was no one outside when Archie and I entered.
13:22
Speaker 4: The bridge is down, effectively cutting us off from further visitors.
13:26
Speaker 4: We may assume, therefore, that we are the only people
13:29
Speaker 4: in known about this house. Yeah, it's cozy, ain't it?
13:32
Speaker 4: Which further means that one of you three is a murderer.
13:37
Speaker 4: A murderer? A murderer is the person who owns or
13:40
Speaker 4: lives in this house. All three of you denied being
13:43
Speaker 4: that person. Conclusion, one of you is a liar. I
13:49
Speaker 4: hardly expected a full immediate confession. However, we are absolutely
13:53
Speaker 4: isolated here. No one is going to come or leave
13:57
Speaker 4: until we have our killer. You know, you can't really
14:00
Speaker 4: keep us here. The flood can and will. Remember, the
14:03
Speaker 4: bridge is no longer. So you see, just the five
14:07
Speaker 4: of us alone. No one else inside the house, no
14:12
Speaker 4: one outside. Therefore... Correction, Mr.
14:15
Speaker 3: Wolfe.
14:16
Speaker 4: Maybe it's a branch or something tapping against the door. Unlikely. Archie.
14:21
Speaker 3: Okay, I'll go see who or what it is.
14:22
Speaker 4: Hey! I got him.
14:28
Speaker 3: Somebody shut the door.
14:28
Speaker 4: Yeah, all right, I get it. A disreputable and unwashed gentleman.
14:34
Speaker 4: Head badly hurt. Is he conscious, Archie?
14:37
Speaker 3: I don't know. He's mumbling something.
14:38
Speaker 4: Legs pushed off. Pelvin legs.
14:44
Speaker 3: He's passed out. I guess he was trying to say
14:47
Speaker 3: that somebody pushed him out on a ledge. Side of
14:50
Speaker 3: the cliff, maybe. He must have regained consciousness and crawled
14:53
Speaker 3: to the house. Where'll I put him, Mr. Wolfe?
14:55
Speaker 4: Bedroom, I suppose. He'll need first aid. He can't get
14:59
Speaker 4: a doctor. Cregan, where are the bedrooms? Yeah, one right
15:02
Speaker 4: up at the head of the stairs. And don't ask
15:05
Speaker 4: me how I happen to know. We shall. Archie.
15:08
Speaker 3: Okay.
15:09
Speaker 4: I'll need somebody to help me carry him up without
15:11
Speaker 4: shaking him too badly. Cregan? Okay. Let's go. As for
15:19
Speaker 4: the rest of you, Mr. Wagner, Miss Shirley, I suggest
15:22
Speaker 4: we return to the living room. But I don't see
15:24
Speaker 4: any reason why we should take orders from you. One
15:27
Speaker 4: of you is a murderer. I include Mr. Cregan, of course.
15:30
Speaker 5: Oh, but that poor man wasn't dead.
15:32
Speaker 4: Not for lack of trying. However, I was not referring
15:35
Speaker 4: to him. You mean... You mean someone else has been killed? Precisely.
15:40
Speaker 4: That is why I hope we should not hear another
15:42
Speaker 4: knocking at the door. It could only be a corpse.
15:45
Speaker 4: The End.
15:57
Speaker 5: Archie.
15:57
Speaker 4: And Cregan.
15:58
Speaker 3: Yeah.
15:59
Speaker 4: The injured man?
16:00
Speaker 3: Still out. Probably got a concussion.
16:02
Speaker 4: Did he say anything further?
16:04
Speaker 3: Well, he babbled a bit.
16:05
Speaker 4: I don't know if... We should assume we're among friends, Archie.
16:09
Speaker 4: Exactly what did he say?
16:10
Speaker 3: Well, he was pushed over the edge of the cliff
16:12
Speaker 3: because he saw Miller killed.
16:14
Speaker 4: Ah, did he also see who?
16:16
Speaker 3: No, passed out before he had a chance. He's an
16:18
Speaker 3: old tramp, Mr.
16:19
Speaker 2: Wolfe.
16:19
Speaker 4: He was bumming his way through the country when he
16:21
Speaker 4: saw the murder. He must have decided on a touch
16:24
Speaker 4: of blackmail and receiving a concussion instead, which may last
16:28
Speaker 4: for hours or for days.
16:30
Speaker 3: Somebody's playing with the lights. Some fool. Yeah, the switch
16:33
Speaker 3: was over this way. Ah, the lights are on again.
16:38
Speaker 3: Whose idea was that?
16:39
Speaker 4: I had nothing to do with this. Me neither. Miss Shirley,
16:42
Speaker 4: why did you scream? Well.
16:44
Speaker 5: Someone rushed against me in the darkness.
16:46
Speaker 4: You were standing?
16:47
Speaker 5: Near the table, this table.
16:49
Speaker 4: Archie? Nothing on the table except a bunch of keys
16:51
Speaker 4: on a ring. There's something screwy. Why should a guy
16:55
Speaker 4: put the lights out just to deposit a bunch of
16:57
Speaker 4: keys on a table? Obvious. Without doubt, those are the
17:01
Speaker 4: keys of this house. Possession of them will have disclosed
17:05
Speaker 4: which of you lives here and which of you therefore
17:07
Speaker 4: killed Miller.
17:09
Speaker 3: It's late.
17:10
Speaker 4: I should sleep down here, lacking an elevator to transport
17:14
Speaker 4: me upstairs.
17:14
Speaker 3: The elevator's lacking.
17:16
Speaker 4: Yes, the rest of you should be able to find
17:18
Speaker 4: bedrooms upstairs. Good night. Archie.
17:21
Speaker 3: Yeah?
17:22
Speaker 4: Follow them upstairs. Spend the night awake. Okay. Good heavens, Archie.
17:29
Speaker 4: On my way.
17:34
Speaker 3: What's cooking up here?
17:35
Speaker 4: Somebody's playing with the lights up there. Strike a match.
17:37
Speaker 4: You don't have to. I got a flashlight. Oh, here
17:40
Speaker 4: it is.
17:40
Speaker 3: Light switch. You know, this putting out of lights is
17:43
Speaker 3: getting to be somebody's bad habit. Well, all three of
17:46
Speaker 3: you seem to be okay.
17:47
Speaker 4: Stay here.
17:48
Speaker 5: Where are you going?
17:49
Speaker 3: Triumph's room, right here at the head of the stairs.
17:51
Speaker 3: Think of all your good deeds while I'm gone. All right,
17:56
Speaker 3: downstairs again.
17:57
Speaker 4: What a gem.
17:58
Speaker 3: Oh, dear.
17:58
Speaker 4: What happened?
17:59
Speaker 3: Well, it was more than a bunch of keys this time.
18:01
Speaker 4: That knife.
18:03
Speaker 5: There's blood on it.
18:04
Speaker 3: There should be. I just pulled it out of a
18:05
Speaker 3: man's heart. Well, Mr. Wolfe, one of these three babies
18:09
Speaker 3: doused the lights, popped into the tramp's room, deposited the
18:11
Speaker 3: knife in his chest, and popped right out again.
18:13
Speaker 4: The knife you're holding? Yeah.
18:16
Speaker 3: Tell an interviewer to wrap a handkerchief around the handle. Well,
18:19
Speaker 3: whoever killed the tramp didn't have time to fool around
18:21
Speaker 3: with gloves, so... There should be prints on the knife handle.
18:25
Speaker 4: Satisfactory, Archie.
18:27
Speaker 3: That's mild enthusiasm.
18:29
Speaker 4: Archie, on that desk, an ink pad.
18:31
Speaker 3: Yeah.
18:32
Speaker 4: Miss Shirley, you carry face powder, of course?
18:35
Speaker 5: Yes, I do.
18:36
Speaker 4: Archie will need it to bring out the prints on
18:38
Speaker 4: the knife. He will then fingerprint each of you.
18:42
Speaker 3: Compare your prints with those on the knife, and we
18:45
Speaker 3: shall have a murderer to hand over to the police.
18:48
Speaker 4: Archie, will you begin, please?
18:54
Speaker 3: Here they are, Mr. Wolfe. Three cards labeled with Miss
18:59
Speaker 3: Shirley's name, Cregan's, and Wagner's. Their respective prints are on
19:02
Speaker 3: each card.
19:03
Speaker 5: Good.
19:04
Speaker 4: I have the knife here. Several quite distinct prints on it.
19:08
Speaker 4: It should be child's play to... Archie. Yeah? Take your
19:14
Speaker 4: own prints and mine.
19:15
Speaker 3: What?
19:16
Speaker 4: Do as I say, quickly.
19:18
Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
19:18
Speaker 4: All right, give me your thumb.
19:20
Speaker 3: Thank you. That's it.
19:24
Speaker 4: Now mine.
19:25
Speaker 3: Thank me.
19:28
Speaker 4: There's something wrong. Something wrong and deadly loose in this
19:33
Speaker 4: house tonight.
19:34
Speaker 3: Well, there's a card with your prints in mine.
19:36
Speaker 4: Thank you.
19:37
Speaker 3: Now you got five cards all together.
19:39
Speaker 4: So I have. Archie.
19:42
Speaker 3: What now?
19:43
Speaker 4: Take the ink pad and a fresh card with you.
19:46
Speaker 3: Where am I going with them?
19:47
Speaker 4: Upstairs. But, Mr.
19:49
Speaker 3: Wolfe, there's nobody upstairs. except the corpse.
19:51
Speaker 4: Precisely. It is his prints I want.
19:53
Speaker 5: Oh, this is so ridiculous.
20:01
Speaker 4: It's over with.
20:02
Speaker 3: Archie. Yeah, I got the dead man's prints.
20:07
Speaker 4: Will all of you please sit? All right, but... Good heavens,
20:11
Speaker 4: young woman, be careful. We want no accidents.
20:14
Speaker 5: Sorry, I caught my high heels in the rug.
20:17
Speaker 4: Archie, the card with the corpse's prints on it.
20:20
Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
20:21
Speaker 4: Thank you. You know, I've had quite enough of this nonsense.
20:25
Speaker 4: Have you, Mr. Wagner? And so have I, Mr. Wolfe. Also,
20:29
Speaker 4: I don't think you know what you're doing. Perhaps not. However,
20:32
Speaker 4: I have something rather interesting to tell all of you.
20:35
Speaker 4: There is no one in this house besides yourselves, except,
20:38
Speaker 4: of course, for the dead man upstairs. There is no
20:41
Speaker 4: one on the rock on which this house stands except
20:44
Speaker 4: for another dead man in our car. Look, we already
20:47
Speaker 4: know all that. Bear with me. We may rule out
20:51
Speaker 4: secret passages, unusual hiding places, or anything of that esoteric
20:56
Speaker 4: and childish nature. We may also rest assured that no
21:00
Speaker 4: one has come to or left this house or rock
21:03
Speaker 4: within the last few hours.
21:05
Speaker 3: That means we're kind of hermetically sealed here, huh? Meaning
21:08
Speaker 3: also that whoever was here when the tramp was killed
21:10
Speaker 3: is still here. Still here in this room.
21:12
Speaker 4: Correct, Archie. Now then, I have checked the dead tramp's
21:16
Speaker 4: prints against those on the knife. Theoretically, suicide was possible. However,
21:22
Speaker 4: the prints do not match. That guy was in no
21:24
Speaker 4: condition to kill himself anyway. True. And I checked Archie's
21:27
Speaker 4: prints and mine against those on the knife. No similarity.
21:31
Speaker 5: Oh, but no one suspected either of you.
21:33
Speaker 4: Thank you, but I had to be thorough. That left
21:35
Speaker 4: only the three of you. I compared your cards and
21:39
Speaker 4: the prints on them with the prints on the handle
21:41
Speaker 4: of the knife. And? I want you to remember one
21:44
Speaker 4: thing very clearly. We are the only living people in
21:48
Speaker 4: this house or on this rock of land. No tricks
21:51
Speaker 4: are possible and may be ruled out. All right, so what? This.
21:56
Speaker 4: The prints on the handle of the knife that pierced
21:59
Speaker 4: the heart of the man upstairs do not match his
22:03
Speaker 4: prints or... The prints of anyone in this room. No,
22:07
Speaker 4: mine wouldn't match.
22:08
Speaker 3: Would you mind saying that again? He doesn't have to.
22:10
Speaker 3: In those cards, Mr. Wolfe has the prints of everybody here.
22:14
Speaker 3: And yet, none of them match the prints on the
22:15
Speaker 3: knife handle.
22:16
Speaker 5: But, well, in that case, who or what killed him?
22:21
Speaker 4: There must be someone else in the house. I give
22:23
Speaker 4: you my word, there is not. Hey, you thinking about
22:26
Speaker 4: ghosts or something? Ghosts never leave fingerprints. I.
22:31
Speaker 5: I've got to get away. I can't stand this.
22:33
Speaker 4: Me too. Come on, lady. But I'll come along with
22:35
Speaker 4: you if you don't mind. Mr. Wolfe. Let them go.
22:39
Speaker 4: The bridge is down. They can't get far. Okay.
22:42
Speaker 3: I don't get it.
22:43
Speaker 4: Good one.
22:44
Speaker 3: Well, the fingerprint business. And who killed Miller plus the tramp?
22:48
Speaker 4: The identity of the killer, Archie, is quite obvious. It is?
22:53
Speaker 3: To who?
22:53
Speaker 4: To whom?
22:55
Speaker 3: Who's whom? That's a joke. Yeah, I'm stalling for self-respect.
22:59
Speaker 3: You know?
23:00
Speaker 4: Of course I do. I have no conclusive proof, however.
23:05
Speaker 4: I had hoped the fingerprints would be of assistance there,
23:07
Speaker 4: but they proved to be phantoms.
23:10
Speaker 3: I'm still smarting about the other thing. You know, it's
23:12
Speaker 3: at times like this that I almost agree with you
23:13
Speaker 3: about my intelligence.
23:15
Speaker 4: Lack of intelligence?
23:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, don't rub it in. Don't rub it in.
23:18
Speaker 3: Just go ahead. Yeah, well, maybe you better rub it in.
23:21
Speaker 3: From now on, you may refer to my brain in
23:22
Speaker 3: the negative.
23:23
Speaker 4: In the negative? Bless you, Archie.
23:28
Speaker 3: What I've just done, I don't know, but can I
23:29
Speaker 3: have a raise?
23:30
Speaker 4: No.
23:31
Speaker 3: I'll take it back.
23:31
Speaker 4: You can't. Get the others in at once. Mr.
23:34
Speaker 3: Wolfe, you now have the appearance of Mr. Wolfe being
23:36
Speaker 3: surrounded by several dozen bottles of beer.
23:38
Speaker 4: What have I done? You've explained the fingerprints, Archie. Hurry.
23:44
Speaker 4: I don't want to keep the killer in suspense. I
23:52
Speaker 4: don't care. No, I'm very nervous. Archie, they're all here. Yes,
23:57
Speaker 4: but they're all making a noise. Stop them. Surely, Mr.
24:01
Speaker 4: Craig and Mr.
24:02
Speaker 3: Wagner, will you please shut.
24:05
Speaker 4: Mr.
24:05
Speaker 3: Wolfe, they have.
24:06
Speaker 4: Thank you, Archie. Now then, I have known for some
24:09
Speaker 4: little time which of you killed the tramp and Miller.
24:12
Speaker 4: I lack proof, however. And you... you have it now?
24:16
Speaker 4: I will admit for a while I was flummoxed by
24:18
Speaker 4: the negative evidence of the fingerprints. They seem to indicate
24:22
Speaker 4: that the tramp was murdered by a phantom. However, the
24:25
Speaker 4: word negative itself has solved the minor problem. Minor to whom?
24:30
Speaker 3: To whom? Never mind.
24:32
Speaker 4: Archie, what is the salient feature of a film negative?
24:36
Speaker 3: Well, I suppose it's the fact that the dark's a
24:38
Speaker 3: light and the light's a dark.
24:39
Speaker 4: Precisely. A reversal, then, of the actual appearances. Now, are
24:44
Speaker 4: there any similarities between filmed images and fingerprints?
24:49
Speaker 3: Oh, in a way... You could call up worlds and
24:51
Speaker 3: hollows that determine the individual characteristics of a fingerprint, the
24:54
Speaker 3: lights and.
24:55
Speaker 4: Darks, huh? You could. I shall. Miss Shirley, would you
24:59
Speaker 4: help in any experiment? Of course. Thank you. Archie, I
25:03
Speaker 4: want you to take Miss Shirley's fingerprints once again. Okay.
25:08
Speaker 3: Pad and card. Here you are, Miss Shirley.
25:10
Speaker 4: All right. Archie, quick. Grab her arm. I got it.
25:14
Speaker 3: Usually I don't have to be coached, but.
25:16
Speaker 5: Let go of me. What are you trying to do?
25:18
Speaker 4: Miss Shirley... You already had pressed your fingers on the
25:21
Speaker 4: ink pad once. Why were you about to do it
25:24
Speaker 4: a second time?
25:26
Speaker 5: Well, I... I just wanted to make a better impression.
25:30
Speaker 4: Hurry. Archie, wipe some of the ink off her fingers.
25:34
Speaker 5: Oh, but then it won't be any good.
25:35
Speaker 4: It'll be very good, Archie. I've done it. Then take
25:39
Speaker 4: the prints.
25:39
Speaker 3: No.
25:40
Speaker 4: No, let go of me.
25:41
Speaker 3: Baby, I never hurt women if I can help it,
25:42
Speaker 3: but right now I won't be able to help it.
25:44
Speaker 4: Mr.
25:44
Speaker 3: Wolfe wants your prints all over again, so down on
25:47
Speaker 3: the nice white card. No.
25:49
Speaker 4: Ah, thanks. Will you let me have that card now, Archie? Sure.
25:55
Speaker 4: In the meanwhile, hold on to Miss Shirley.
25:57
Speaker 3: A pleasure.
25:58
Speaker 4: Indeed? Would you continue to think so, Archie, if I
26:02
Speaker 4: told you that Miss Shirley's first name is not Peg,
26:05
Speaker 4: but happens to be Josephine, for which the diminutive is Joe?
26:10
Speaker 3: Glad they're fixing the bridge. I was beginning to think
26:17
Speaker 3: we'd be here forever.
26:19
Speaker 4: Pooey, we have been.
26:22
Speaker 3: You know, if those black orchids have been holding their
26:24
Speaker 3: breath waiting for you, they're going to be red in
26:25
Speaker 3: the face. Hey, new breed, red orchids, huh?
26:30
Speaker 4: Ah, do you must you talk?
26:31
Speaker 3: Well, it's fun. Also, you've been holding out on me
26:34
Speaker 3: about the case.
26:35
Speaker 4: I surrender.
26:36
Speaker 3: Okay. You know, when we compared the new prints of
26:40
Speaker 3: Josephine with those on the knife, you could have knocked
26:42
Speaker 3: me over with a sash weight. They were identical.
26:45
Speaker 4: Naturally. She stabbed the tramp. Yeah, but what was the
26:49
Speaker 4: fingerprint gag? She merely loaded her fingers so heavily with
26:52
Speaker 4: ink that she falsified the markings. She filled up the
26:55
Speaker 4: hollows and walls with ink. The result was that ridges
26:59
Speaker 4: became hollows and vice versa. In the same fashion that
27:03
Speaker 4: a photographic negative falsifies lights and darks. You got that
27:07
Speaker 4: when I mentioned the word negative. It works, huh? Try
27:10
Speaker 4: it sometime.
27:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, the very next bank I rubbed. But you said
27:14
Speaker 3: you knew who killed Miller and the tramp even before
27:16
Speaker 3: you exposed the fingerprint gimmick.
27:17
Speaker 4: How? We knew Miller's murderer lived in this house. Had
27:22
Speaker 4: been stealing from him and so on. Stealing what? Cash,
27:26
Speaker 4: of course. He, as the girl admitted, was an eccentric.
27:29
Speaker 4: Kept his money on the property. Cregan had probably heard
27:33
Speaker 4: of it. Hence his casing of the house.
27:35
Speaker 3: Yeah?
27:36
Speaker 4: Our problem, therefore, was to discover who lived in this house.
27:40
Speaker 4: All three suspects denied it. Josephine Shirley told us, as
27:45
Speaker 4: you may remember, that she'd gone for a walk and
27:47
Speaker 4: then been driven by the flood to this house where
27:50
Speaker 4: we found her.
27:51
Speaker 3: Well, that's what she said. It could have been.
27:53
Speaker 4: No, because as you may also remember, she tripped at
27:57
Speaker 4: one point over the living room rug and mentioned why. Sure.
28:02
Speaker 3: Sure, she said she was wearing high heels and... Uh-oh,
28:05
Speaker 3: because out in the country there are no pavements, so
28:07
Speaker 3: girls don't go for a walk in high-heeled shoes. Therefore,
28:10
Speaker 3: she hadn't gone for a walk. Therefore, she was lying. Therefore,
28:13
Speaker 3: she killed Miller and... I should have noticed those heels myself.
28:18
Speaker 4: You should have, R.J. Your trouble, I suspect, was that
28:23
Speaker 4: you didn't notice the feet for the legs.
28:26
Speaker 1: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
28:27
Speaker 4: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
28:39
Speaker 2: You have been listening to The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe,
28:42
Speaker 2: starring Sidney Greenstreet. Tonight's transcribed story was based on the
29:02
Speaker 2: characters created by Rex Stout. This is an Edwin Fadiman
29:05
Speaker 2: program produced and directed by J.
29:07
Speaker 3: Donald Wilson.
29:08
Speaker 2: In the cast were Gerald Moore as Archie Goodwin, and
29:11
Speaker 2: Gigi Pearson, Howard McNeer, Tim Graham, and Eddie Fields. Next week,
29:16
Speaker 2: at this same time, Nero Wolfe and Archie will bring
29:19
Speaker 2: you The Case of the Vanishing Shells.
29:23
Speaker 3: Don Stanley speaking. Three chimes mean good times on NBC.
29:38
Speaker 1: Our presentation of the new adventure of Nero Wolf and
29:41
Speaker 1: Phantom Fingers now comes to a close. This is Victor Sterling.
29:46
Speaker 1: Until next time, good night. Follow Old Time Mystery Radio
29:51
Speaker 1: for more classic mystery and detective broadcasts.