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CBS Mystery Theater-Sherlock Holmes-The Speckled Band · Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson

• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Come in. Welcome.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: I'm E.G.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Marshall. Some 38 years ago, back in World War II days,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: a famous line was born. It was part of a song,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: which goes like this. There'll always be an England, while
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: there's a busy street, wherever there's a turning wheel, a
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: million marching feet. To which the authors might have added...
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: And as long as there's an England, there'll always be
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: a Sherlock Holmes.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: Which one of you is Holmes?
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: My name, sir. But you have the advantage of me.
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: I'm Dr.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: Grimsby, royalist of Stoke Moran, and I know you, you scoundrel.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: You're Holmes the meddler. Holmes the busybody. Stay out of
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: my affair.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: When you go out, close the door, for there's a
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: decided draft.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: Just see that you keep yourself out of my grip,
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: or I swear to see to it that you'll roast
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: in hell. Our mystery drama, The Adventure of the Speckled Band,
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: was adapted from the Sherlock Holmes classic, especially for the
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: Mystery Theater, by Murray Burnett, and.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Stars Kevin McCarthy. It is sponsored in part by Sinoff,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: the sinus medicines, and Exlax.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: I'll be back shortly with Act One.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Act One Macho is the in word today when rating
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: male performers.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Either the performer in.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Question has it or he hasn't. It's very similar to
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the days of Eleanor Glynn when she made the word
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: it synonymous with sex appeal. When we think of Sherlock Holmes,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: we dismiss the idea of his having macho, and that's
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: a big mistake. It seems that whenever a beautiful young
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: lady was in distress, Sherlock Holmes was the first man
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: she turned to for help. at any hour of the
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: day or night. Watson! Watson, wake up! Sorry to rouse.
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: You, but.
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: Holmes! Aren't you feeling well?
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: No, I'm perfectly fit, thank you, but it seems that
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: there's a young lady who roused Mrs. Hudson, who in
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: turn roused me, and she's waiting in our sitting room
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: this very minute.
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: At this hour?
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Trust you, Watson, to hit the nail on the head.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: When young ladies wander about London... At this hour of
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: the morning and get sleepy people out of their beds.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Come on, now. I assume that it's something very pressing
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: that she has to communicate. Yes, of course.
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: That was exactly what I was thinking.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Then I was thinking that if it proves to be
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: an interesting case, you might want to follow it from
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: the very beginning. But if you prefer to finish your sleep... No, no, no, no, no, no.
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: I wouldn't miss it for anything.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Good morning, madame. My name is Sherlock Holmes. This is an, well,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: an intimate friend of mine and an associate, Dr. Watson,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ah,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: I'm glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: good sense to light the fire. Please, draw to it,
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: and I'll order you a cup of hot tea, for
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: I observe that you're shivering.
• 3:31
  Speaker 5: I'm not shivering from the cold.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Hmm? What then?
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: Fear, Mr. Holmes. It's terror.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Well, if you'll trust us, perhaps we can soon set
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: matters right. You came in by train this morning, I see.
• 3:43
  Speaker 5: You know me, then.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: No, no, but I observed the second half of a
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: return ticket in the palm of your left glove. You
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: must have started very early, and yet you had a
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: long drive in a dog cart along heavy roads before
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: you reached the station.
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: Oh, I've come to the wrong place. They've been here
• 3:58
  Speaker 5: before me, and you know all about this.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Anna, please, please, madam, forgive my clumsiness. Anna, don't be alarmed.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: It's just that my enthusiasm for the science of deduction
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: is sometimes misplaced.
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: I don't understand.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: The explanation is simple. The left arm of your jacket
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: is spattered with mud in no less than seven places.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: The marks are perfectly fresh. There's no vehicle other than
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: a dog cart which throws up mud in that way.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: And then only when you sit on the left-hand side
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: of the driver for some time.
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: However you reached your conclusion, you're perfectly correct. And I
• 4:34
  Speaker 5: see I was wrong to mistrust you. Mildred Fantash was
• 4:37
  Speaker 5: right when she said you are the one to turn
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: to in an hour of need.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Fantash, eh? Ah, that was before your time, Watson. It
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: was concerned with an opal tiara, I recall it now.
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: I hope that you can help me shed the horror
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: and darkness which surrounds me. At present, I can't reward
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: you for your services, but in a month or six weeks,
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: I shall be married with full control of my own income...
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: And then you shall not find me ungrateful.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Now, don't disturb yourself about rewarding me. Let us hear
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: your problem.
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: My name is Helen Stoner. I live with my stepfather, Dr.
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: Grimsey Roylett... who's the last survivor of one of the
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: oldest Saxon families in England... the Royletts of Stoke Moran
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: on the western border of Surrey.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: The name is familiar to me.
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: Ah, well, then perhaps you know... that the Roylett family
• 5:26
  Speaker 5: was at one time among the richest in England... but
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: four successive heirs of wasteful and dissolute habits mortgaged the
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: estate to the hilt, and the taxes did the rest.
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: My stepfather, seeing that he must adapt to new conditions,
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: took a medical degree and went to Calcutta, where he
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: established a large practice.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Does he practice in Surrey now?
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: Oh, no, never. No one would come to him.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Ah, why not?
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: Because of his temper. The villagers are afraid of him.
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: Only last week he threw the local blacksmith over a
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: bridge and into a stream.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: You don't say.
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: It was only by paying all the money I could
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: get together that I was able to avert another public exposure.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Surely your stepfather must have displayed some of these symptoms
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: to you or your mother before.
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: No, no, no. You don't understand. My mother was the
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: young widow of Major General Stoner of the Bengal Artillery.
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: We were only two years old at the time of
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: my mother's remarriage.
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: We.
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: Oh, my twin sister, Julia. She's dead. And it's about
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: her death that I want to speak with you.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: In a moment. You say you and your sister were
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: only two years old when your mother married Dr. Reuler.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Even so, surely there must have been some indication of
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: this violent temper that you speak of.
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: Not then. There seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness.
• 6:52
  Speaker 5: It was only after he caught our native butler in
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: some robberies and beat him to death... that the violent
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: side of his nature was revealed, and never to us, never.
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: I'm sure... I'm sure that.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Yes, madam. Yes, sure of what?
• 7:12
  Speaker 5: That if I, mother, were still alive, we'd be happy again.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: Ah.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: When and how did she die?
• 7:20
  Speaker 5: Eight years ago, in a railway accident near Crewe.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: And your sister?
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: That's the horror, Mr. Holmes. That's why I'm here. It
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: was just two years ago. Just a fortnight before her
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: wedding day. Mr. Holmes, we were twins. Terribly close. And
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: I remember her telling me how she had dreaded telling
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: Papa about her forthcoming marriage. She described it so vividly.
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: I can almost hear her now as Papa called her
• 7:50
  Speaker 5: outside the house.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: Julia?
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: Julia? Yes, Papa?
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: Julia... You and your twin sister are so close, yet
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: as different as night from day.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Now, Helen wouldn't have asked to see me in my
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: study and then avoided coming here.
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry, Papa. It's just that... Well, I wasn't sure
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: you'd like what I have to tell you.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: There's only one way to find out.
• 8:15
  Speaker 5: All right. I've met a man. I love him. He
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: loves me. And we're going to be married. Julia, my child,
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: how would.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: You think I'd be anything but overjoyed to hear that
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: you're going to be happy and with someone who cares
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: for you?
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: Who's the lucky fellow?
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: An army major. You'll like him. His name is Robert Drury.
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: But it was really about Helen that I want to speak.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: Helen?
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: What has she to do with it?
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: Papa, she can't run this house alone. She must have help.
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: It's been almost too much for both of us, and
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: now that I'm just about to leave.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: Don't worry, don't worry. I'll find someone to give Helen
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: a hand with the housekeeping. You'll have other things on
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: your mind, like your trousseau and the things a young
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: woman thinks about when she's getting married. And did he
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: find someone to help you, Miss Donner?
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: No servant would stay in the house more than a
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: day or two, not only because of my stepfather's terrible rages,
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: but also because my stepfather... brought over animals from India
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: and left them free to roam. There is a cheetah
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: and a baboon there now.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: I see.
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: Not the darkest part, you don't, Mr. Holmes, not yet.
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: That awful moment of my sister's death.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: My entire attention is yours. Please proceed.
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: To understand how I came to overhear what happened between
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: my stepfather and my sister, you must know about the
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: sleeping arrangements in the manor house. As I said... It's
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: very old, and only one wing is inhabited. All three
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, with
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: windows opening onto the lawn outside. My stepfather's bedroom was
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: after Julius and mine. connecting doors. Well, on this particularly
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: hot night, shortly before my sister was to be married,
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: my windows were wide open and thus I came to
• 10:09
  Speaker 5: hear the following conversation.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Well, hello, Julia. Can't sleep, eh?
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: Is it the heat or nerves about your forthcoming marriage?
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: A little of both, Papa. Plus, that cigar you're smoking,
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: it's so strong, the breeze blows the smoke right into
• 10:27
  Speaker 5: my bedroom.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Oh, sorry, sorry. Here, I'll get rid of it. Is
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: there anything you wanted to say to me, Julia?
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: Well, as a matter of fact, there is. Please don't
• 10:40
  Speaker 5: think me foolish, but have you ever heard anyone whistle
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: in the bed of night?
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: Whistle? No, never.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: Never?
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: I don't suppose you could possibly whistle yourself in your
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: sleep sometimes.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: Oh, my dear girl, you're just a bundle of nerves.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: When do you think you hear this whistle?
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: For the past three nights. Always at the same time,
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: about three o'clock in the morning, I hear this low,
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: clear whistle. I'm a very light sleeper and it wakes me.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Did you investigate at all? Do you think you know
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: where it came from?
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: I can't be sure. It may have been from the
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: lawn or from one.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Of the rooms.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Have you asked Helen about this?
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: Of course, but she sleeps very heavily and she hasn't
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: heard anything. I just wondered if you had.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Not a thing, my dear Julia. It's all in your head.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. And
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: had your sister asked you about this vessel?
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes.
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: I told her that it must be coming from the
• 11:42
  Speaker 5: gypsy camp that my father allows off on the hills.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Hmm.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: But surely those hills must be some way off?
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: Yes. But sounds carry in the night, don't they?
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Possibly, possibly. Go on.
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: The night of my sister's death, there.
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: Was a terrible storm.
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: I felt a terrible sense of unease, even though I
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: knew we had locked ourselves in because of the animals
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: I told you about. And suddenly, amid all the uproar
• 12:09
  Speaker 5: of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: a terrified woman.
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: I knew it was my sister's voice. I sprang from
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: my bed, wrapped a shawl around me, and rushed into
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: the corridor. There the sound of the storm was somewhat abated,
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: and I thought I heard a low whistle and a
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: clanging sound as if metal had fallen. As I ran
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: down the passage, my sister's door opened slowly, and she
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: stood there swaying. And then she fell to the ground
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: and in a strangled voice cried out, Oh, my Lord,
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: help me. It was the bandit. The speckled bandit.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: There have been fantastically imaginative horrors and thrills invented by
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: all the great writers of horror and suspense stories. But
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: nothing any of them ever came up with has topped
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: the good old-fashioned scream in the night for pure heart-stopping terror.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: We'll be back with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: Act Two shortly. Great talkers abound in history and fiction,
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: but I have a nomination for an unsung category, the
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: great listener. When you consider Dr. Watson, he is one
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: of the greatest listeners of all time. Not only did
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: he act as a sounding board for Sherlock Holmes and
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: his deductions, but he also listened to many of the
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: tales told by Holmes' clients without saying more than a
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: few words while recording what he heard.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: I'd sat both fascinated and horrified that early morning, listening
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: to Helen Stoner tell of her sister's scream of anguish
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: in the night and her last words before she was
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: seized by convulsions and sank to the floor.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: And then, Miss Stoner, did your sister say anything else?
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: She tried to, but she was choking. I called for
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: my stepfather and he came out of his room in
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: his dressing gown. By the time he reached my sister's side,
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: she was unconscious and all his attempts to revive her failed.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: And those attempts were?
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: He poured brandy down her throat, chafed her wrists, tried
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: artificial respiration, but to no avail. She died without recovering consciousness.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: But all this happened two years ago. What brings you
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: to me here now, at this hour, and obviously in
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: mortal fear?
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: Because, Mr. Holmes... I'm now sleeping in my sister's room. Hmm?
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: It was necessary due to repairs being made on the
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: house and... Last night... Last night, Mr. Holmes... I distinctly
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: heard a long, low whistle.
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: Holmes asked if it would inconvenience my wife too much...
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: to have Miss Stoner as a house guest for the
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: remainder of the day... until he could gather some very
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: necessary information. Then he would decide how we should all proceed.
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: I took her to a hansom, gave the driver my address.
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: I'd no sooner returned when the door to the sitting
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: room literally burst open. Framed in the doorway was a
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: tall man, his face burned yellow from the sun with
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: deep-set flashing eyes that glared balefully at us.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: Which one of you.
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: Rogues is Holmes?
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: My name's Heron, but you have the advantage of me.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: I am Dr.
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: Grimsby, Royalist of Stoke Moran.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Indeed, Doctor. Pray take a seat.
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: I'll do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: I traced her, and I was too late to stop
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: this other scoundrel from sending her off in a cab.
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: Your home's the medlar.
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: Home's the busybody.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: When you go out, close the door, for there's a
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: decided draw.
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: I'll go when it pleases me. And it pleases me
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: to have my say. You do well to listen, because
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: I'm a dangerous man to fall afoul of. Here, see
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: this poker? I'll twist you just as easily as I
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: twist this and throw you away like this. Now, see
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: that you keep yourself out of my grip.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: He seems quite a likable chap.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: My word. I'm not quite so bulky or broad in
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: the shoulder, but if he'd remained, I might have shown
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: him that my grip was not so much more feeble
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: than his own.
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: My word, Holmes. You've straightened the poker out again.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Yes. And I hope I have as much success in
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: straightening out what I perceive to be a dark and
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: sinister affair. We'll meet at your house in three hours, Watson.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: After I've walked down to Doctor's Commons, where I hope
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: to get some helpful data.
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: Holmes was as good as his word. And exactly three
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: hours later, he joined me and Miss Stoner in our
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: living room. My wife had gone out to do some shopping.
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: Holmes held in his hand a sheet of blue paper,
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: scrawled with notes and figures. After the greeting, I... I
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: handed him a telegram which had come to Baker Street,
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: addressed to Miss Stoner, care of my friend.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Hmm? What's this?
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: It's a telegram from my fiancé, Peter Armitage.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: How did he know where to send it?
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: We'd discussed my fears for some time, and I'd mentioned
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: I might turn to you. I assume that when he'd
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: heard I was off to London, he took a chance.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Hmm. I'm coming up to London soonest, on no account
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: return to Stoke Moran. All my love, Peter. Your fiancé
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: seems to have a head on his shoulders.
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: But I must go back, Mr. Holmes. My stepfather will be.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: He's here in London, hot on your heels, and with
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: fire in his eyes. He threatened me.
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: Then what am I to do? He's a terrible person
• 18:27
  Speaker 5: when he's crossed.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: I think, Miss Stoner, that we should go immediately to
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Stoke Moran.
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: But I don't understand. You said Peter was giving me
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: good advice about staying in London. Now you advise.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Don't your stepfather come often to London?
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: No.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: And when he does, does he return the same day?
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: He usually stays overnight to transact for all of his business.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Then that's the very reason why I think you and Watson,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: can you make it, my dear fellow, should get there
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: as quickly as possible, because it's only on the scene
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: that we'll find the answer to the mystery.
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: Well, I should need a half-hour to pack.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: Don't forget to take along a revolver. Miss Stoner, you
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: did wisely in coming to see me. But you haven't
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: told me all.
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: I've kept nothing back.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: You have? You're screaming your stepfather.
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: Why? What do you mean?
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: If you'll excuse me while I push back the lace
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: which fringes your hand here.
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: What?
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: What about these five livid imprints of four fingers and
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: a thumb? Miss Stoner, you have been cruelly used.
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: I told you about his tempers. Sometimes he doesn't seem
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: to know his own strength.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: But he certainly knows on which side his bread is buttered.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: You see, I spent some time looking at your mother's will.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: And the figures that I have here on this paper
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: show that if... both of you girls marry, your stepfather
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: would have to exist on a mere pittance. The marriage
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: of even one of you would put a serious dent
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: in his income, whereas if neither of you marry, he
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: does very nicely indeed.
• 20:04
  Speaker 5: But, Mr.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: Holmes... Miss.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: Stoner, you turn to me for help. Let me assure
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: you that your stepfather is a crafty and dangerous villain.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: And you will have to put yourself completely in my
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: hands if we are to save your life.
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: You're not trying to frighten me.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Indeed I am. For your own sake. Now there are
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: some things that I must make certain of. First, are
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: you sure about hearing this whistle and the metallic sound
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: on the night of your sister's death?
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: It's my strong impression that I heard it.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Was your sister dressed?
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: No. No, she was in her nightdress. And in her
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: right hand was found the charred stump of a match,
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: and in her left, a matchbox.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: So she struck a light and looked about her, and
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: the alarm took place.
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: Is that important?
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: Vital. But did the coroner's jury come to any conclusions
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: at all?
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: None. The case was investigated with a great deal of care.
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: But my evidence proves conclusively that my sister was quite
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: alone when she met her death.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Just how thorough was the investigation?
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: The walls and flooring were carefully sounded and shown to
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: be solid all around.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: The chimney?
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: Is wide, but is barred with four large staples. The
• 21:24
  Speaker 5: windows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars,
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: which were secured every night, and the door was locked
• 21:31
  Speaker 5: from the inside.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: How about poison?
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: The doctors examined her for it, but no traces were found.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: I ask you then, Miss Stoner, what do you believe
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: caused your sister's death?
• 21:42
  Speaker 5: Fright and nervous shock.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Induced by?
• 21:45
  Speaker 5: I can't imagine.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: You mentioned gypsies. Were there gypsies in the plantation at
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: the time?
• 21:52
  Speaker 5: There are nearly always some there. What do you think
• 21:55
  Speaker 5: my sister's allusion to a band, a speckled band, has
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: something to do with gypsy costumes?
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: We're fishing in very deep waters, Miss Stoner. And I
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: suggest we repair to the dining car for some tea.
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: Oh, you and Dr. Watson can go. I feel no
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: desire for food. If you don't mind, I'll try to
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: take a little nap.
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: But Holmes, if Dr. Roiland murdered his stepdaughter, how in
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: the world did he accomplish it? The door, the window,
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: and chimney were impassable. The flooring and walls were sullied.
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: And then Julia Stoner was undoubtedly alone when she met
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: her death.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: It would appear so. But then, how do you account
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: for these nocturnal whistles and the very peculiar words of
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: the dying woman?
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: I can't account for any of it, Holmes. Unless they
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: were hallucinations.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Not likely that the two women would be afflicted with
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: the same hallucination about whistles in the night. And only
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: one of them referred to the speckled band.
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: Well, you've evidently formed some conclusions. Otherwise, we wouldn't this
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: very moment be on our way to Stoke Moran.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: No conclusions, my dear doctor. Only surmises, which have to
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: be checked on the spot before I can even begin
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: to make deductions.
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: And these surmises?
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: We have a vicious... seemingly unprincipled stepfather. Stepfather definitely subject
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: to violent rages who stands to gain a good deal
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: if his stepdaughters never marry. In addition, we have a
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: band of gypsies camped very near Stoke Moran with whom
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: the stepfather is on friendly terms. Now, when you add
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: to that the fact that Miss Helen Stoner thinks she
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: heard a metallic clang... which might have been caused by
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: one of those metal bars that secure the shutters falling
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: back into place, then I feel that we must begin
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: our investigations along these lines.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: And while we pursue these investigations, what about Miss Stoner?
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: I have telegraphed her fiancé to meet us at the
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: station and take her to Stoke Moran and wait for us.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: She'll be safe enough while we visit the gypsies. I
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: think it's best for us to pose as architects. Something
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: to do with the alterations that are being made at
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: the manor.
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: Well, seems like the gypsies are breaking kept.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: It does indeed. That fellow over there seems to be
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: giving the orders. Hello. Can we have a word with you? Sorry.
• 24:36
  Speaker 6: No fortune telling today.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Oh, come now. You can't be in that much of
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: a rush to get to Saint-Marie-de-la-Mer. The festival doesn't start
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: until late May. Who are you, hmm? I'm Sherlock Holmes,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: and this is Dr. John Watson.
• 24:50
  Speaker 4: How do you do?
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: We're assisting the architects in the rebuilding going on at
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: the manor.
• 24:54
  Speaker 6: What do you want with us? What do you know
• 24:56
  Speaker 6: about our annual festival?
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Oh, I'm interested in the history of the Romani people.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: And I'd hope to talk with you about your friend
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: and benefactor, Dr. Roylett.
• 25:05
  Speaker 6: Gypsies have no friends.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: You don't consider it an act of friendship that Dr.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Roylett allowed you to use these grounds as a campsite?
• 25:13
  Speaker 6: Repaid.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: With odd jobs around the manor? Doing some of your
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: metal work and other favors, no doubt. Bowman, bring me
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: the cards. No, no, no, no. I'm not interested in
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: the tarot. No, but you are interested in Dr. Roiland.
• 25:28
  Speaker 6: He is why we leave today. He hasn't ordered you off. No,
• 25:33
  Speaker 6: we leave because he asks us to stay. Could you
• 25:37
  Speaker 6: explain that? Give me the cards, Bowman.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: Surely you don't need these.
• 25:41
  Speaker 6: Like you, Dr.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Roiland knew of the Romani people and their customs. He
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: asked questions.
• 25:47
  Speaker 6: These figures on the cards, properly interpreted, contain not only
• 25:52
  Speaker 6: the answers to your questions, but could reveal the secret
• 25:56
  Speaker 6: of the universe.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: I see. Not yet.
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: Here.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: Choose a card. Very well.
• 26:04
  Speaker 6: The Serpent of Wisdom. You, sir, are not only an architect, but...
• 26:10
  Speaker 6: You travel all paths seeking knowledge.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: I say, Holmes, that didn't... Please, please, Watson. Allow the
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: gentleman to tell us what he can in his own fashion.
• 26:20
  Speaker 6: Select four more cards, quickly, without thought.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: Travis Factory?
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: Ah, path 12.
• 26:27
  Speaker 6: The Elephant.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Justice.
• 26:31
  Speaker 6: And path 16.
• 26:33
  Speaker 5: The Goat.
• 26:34
  Speaker 6: Or, if you please, the Devil. And path 17.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: The Falling Tower.
• 26:41
  Speaker 6: And here, the last card you selected, part 14.
• 26:46
  Speaker 4: Death.
• 26:48
  Speaker 6: Does that give you the information you seek?
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: Not quite. But I must apologize to you.
• 26:54
  Speaker 6: For what?
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: For mistaking your calling. You're not a metal worker.
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: What on earth was that all about? Why did you
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: apologize for calling him a metal worker?
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: You looked at his hands as he handled the tarot cards, Watson,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: but you didn't really see them. They were not the
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: hands of a laborer, but of a card manipulator.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: Oh, I see.
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: You mean that those cards you selected.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Were the ones he forced on me, Watson. And because
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: of that, I need only to verify one more fact.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: To eliminate the gypsies as the speckled band.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Dear listener, the facts which would enable you to arrive
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: at the correct solution for the adventure of the speckled
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: band are not yet all before you, but I promise
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: faithfully that they'll be placed before you at the very
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: outset of Act Three, right after these messages. The master
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: of film suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, knew and exploited the sinister
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: undercurrents flowing beneath the classic green and beautiful English countryside.
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: But he didn't discover it.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: That vein was explored half a century or more before
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Listen now as Dr. Watson
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: sets the scene in peaceful Surrey for the final act
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: of the adventure of the Speckled Band.
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: Holmes and I hurried back across the fields to Stoke Moran.
• 28:38
  Speaker 4: As we neared the half-ruined building, we spied Miss Stoner.
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: Miss Stoner.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Miss Stoner.
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: Oh, Mr.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: Holmes.
• 28:46
  Speaker 5: I'm so glad to see you. My stepfather's returning this
• 28:49
  Speaker 5: evening by the nine o'clock train. What will he say
• 28:51
  Speaker 5: when he discovers you're here?
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: Well, that problem will have to wait. I must make
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: use of this time before he gets here to make
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: my investigations. The workmen have all gone for the day?
• 29:00
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: These windows... Opening on the lawn, I take it belonged
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: to the room in which you used to sleep. And
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: the center ones are your sister's, and the one next
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: to the main building's Dr. Roylott's? Exactly.
• 29:12
  Speaker 5: But now I'm sleeping in the middle one.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Because the repair's being made at the end wall over there.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: The wall doesn't seem to be in any pressing need
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: of repair.
• 29:23
  Speaker 5: That's what I thought.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: So much for that. Now, Miss Stoner, would you be
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: good enough to go into your room... And bar your shutters?
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: Of course.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Watson, come along and help me test my theory about
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: the gypsies. All secure in there, Miss Stoner?
• 29:42
  Speaker 5: Yes, Mr.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: Holmes.
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: Good. Watson, would you hold my magnifying glass while I
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: try to slip this knife through a chink? Not possible.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: As you see, Watson, nothing can be slipped through there.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: Now for the hinges.
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: Well, those hinges are solid, Holmes. Built right into the masonry.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: Exactly. So, we shall have to look inside for the answer.
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: Miss Turner admitted us to her room, which was cozy
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: and homey, with a gaping fireplace, plainly but nicely furnished,
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: with a chest of drawers, dressing table, and two small
• 30:27
  Speaker 4: wicker chairs. Holmes, how in the world did the gypsies
• 30:32
  Speaker 4: manage to get in?
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: No, they didn't, Watson.
• 30:35
  Speaker 4: Oh, but the band, the speckled band and those tarot cards.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: My dear Watson, there's no way in which they could
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: have been involved in the death of Miss Stoner's sister. Now,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: let's look about here. That bell rope over your bed,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Miss Stoner, where does it go?
• 30:52
  Speaker 5: To the housekeeper's room.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. It appears to be newer than the other furnishings.
• 30:57
  Speaker 5: Yes, it was put there a couple of years ago.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: At your sister's request.
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: No, I never heard of her using it. We always
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: got whatever we wanted ourselves.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: Indeed. Excuse me if I take a closer look at it.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: The tassel actually lies upon your pillow here. Now let's
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: see what happens if I pull it. Why, it's a dummy.
• 31:21
  Speaker 5: It doesn't ring.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: It's not even attached to a wire. If you look closely,
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: you can see it's fastened to a hook just above
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: where the little opening for the ventilator is. You see?
• 31:31
  Speaker 5: How very absurd. I never noticed that before.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: Very singular. What kind of a builder puts a ventilator
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: leading into another room when, with the same amount of trouble,
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: he might have put it where it would get the
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: outside air?
• 31:46
  Speaker 5: The ventilator is also quite new.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: Done about the same time as the bell rope. Ah,
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Miss Stoner. With your permission, I'd like to continue my
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: investigation in your stepfather's room.
• 32:04
  Speaker 4: The chamber of Dr. Grimsby Roylett was larger than that
• 32:07
  Speaker 4: of his stepdaughter, but equally plainly furnished. A camp bed,
• 32:12
  Speaker 4: a wooden shelf full of technical books, plain table, round
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: wooden chair, a large iron safe were the principal things
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: that met the eye. Holmes walked slowly around, examining them
• 32:27
  Speaker 4: all with the keenest of interest.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: By any chance, do you know what's in this safe,
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: Miss Stoner?
• 32:32
  Speaker 5: My stepfather's business papers.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: Ah, you've seen inside, then?
• 32:36
  Speaker 5: Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was
• 32:39
  Speaker 5: full of papers.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: There isn't a cat in it, for example?
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: Oh, what a strange idea. What makes you ask that?
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: This saucer of milk standing on top of it.
• 32:50
  Speaker 5: Oh, I can't explain that. We don't have a cat,
• 32:54
  Speaker 5: but there is a cheetah and a baboon.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: So you inform me, and a cheetah is just a
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: big cat, and yet a saucer of milk wouldn't go
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: very far in satisfying its appetite. Now, I should like
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: to examine the seat of this chair for just a moment. Aha.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: Just as I thought.
• 33:12
  Speaker 4: Well, common small dog leash. Well, I don't know why
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: it should be curled upon itself and Tired so as
• 33:20
  Speaker 4: to make a small loop, if that's what you're asking.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: That is uncommon Watson, isn't it?
• 33:25
  Speaker 4: Oh, me, oh, me.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: It's a wicked world. I think I've finished in here,
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: Miss Stoner. And it would be wise for us to leave.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: Miss Stoner, your life depends on doing exactly as I say.
• 33:44
  Speaker 5: Very well, Mr. Holmes. I place myself completely in your hands.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: In the first place... Both my friend and I must
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: spend the night in your room.
• 33:53
  Speaker 5: What?
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: It must be so. Now, let me explain. First, am
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: I correct in assuming that I can see the village
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: inn from here?
• 34:01
  Speaker 5: Yes, that's the crown.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: Excellent.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: And your windows are visible from there?
• 34:07
  Speaker 5: If you have a room on the side facing the manor, yes.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Ah, trust us to arrange that.
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: When your stepfather comes back, I fear that we cannot
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: keep our visit a secret from him, so inform him.
• 34:19
  Speaker 5: Oh, but he's sure to ask what you were doing.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: Well, you will plead a migraine headache and confine yourself
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: to your room. And then when you hear him retire
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: for the night, open the shutters of your window, undo
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: the hasp, and put your lamp there as a signal
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: to us. And then... Very quietly, very, very quietly, take
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: everything you may need and go to the bedroom you
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: formerly occupied. Can you manage there for one night?
• 34:46
  Speaker 5: Oh, yes, easily. But what will you do?
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: We shall spend the night in your room and we
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: shall investigate the noise which disturbed you.
• 34:58
  Speaker 4: Holmes and I had no difficulty engaging a bedroom and
• 35:01
  Speaker 4: sitting room on the upper floor of the Crown Inn.
• 35:04
  Speaker 4: commanding a fine view of the manor and of Miss
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: Stoner's bedroom window.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: You know, Watson, I really have some scruples about taking
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: you tonight. There's a distinct element of real danger.
• 35:18
  Speaker 4: Can't I be of assistance?
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: Well, your presence might be invaluable.
• 35:22
  Speaker 4: Well, then I shall certainly come. You evidently saw more
• 35:26
  Speaker 4: in those rooms than was visible to me.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: No, you saw everything I did. I just reduced a
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: little more.
• 35:33
  Speaker 4: I saw nothing out of the ordinary, except a bow rope.
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: What purpose that could serve is more than I can imagine.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: You also saw the ventilator.
• 35:42
  Speaker 4: Well, it's not unusual to have a small opening between
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: two rooms. It was so small that a rat could
• 35:49
  Speaker 4: hardly pass through it. What harm can there be in that?
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: Well, at least grant me a curious coincidence of dates.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: A ventilator is made, a cord is hung... And a
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Doesn't that strike you?
• 36:04
  Speaker 4: I can't see any connection.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: Did you observe anything very peculiar about the bed?
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: I can't say I did, no.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: a bed fastened like that before?
• 36:16
  Speaker 4: No. Can't say I have. What purpose is that, sir?
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: The purpose for which it was intended. The lady could
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: not move her bed.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 36:32
  Speaker 4: We waited patiently for some hours until just after eleven.
• 36:37
  Speaker 4: The bright light shone out from one of the manor bedrooms.
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: Holmes sprang to his feet. That's our signal, Watson. It
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: comes from the middle window. As we were crossing the
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: lawn as silently as we could, a hideous and distorted
• 36:51
  Speaker 4: figure darted out of a clump of laurel bushes and
• 36:54
  Speaker 4: ran swiftly across the lawn. I froze instinctively and turned
• 36:59
  Speaker 4: to Holmes. Good Lord, did you see it, Holmes?
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: That's the baboon, Motsen. No harm there, although they can
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: be savage if they feel endangered. Ah, the shutters are open. Now, carefully,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: through the windows, Doctor. Now, the least sound would be
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: fatal to our plans. It's dangerous. Now you sit on
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: the chair. But.
• 37:27
  Speaker 5: I'll.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: Stay on the edge of the bed. You must sit
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: without a light because he would see it through the ventilator.
• 37:36
  Speaker 4: Do not let yourself fall asleep, Watson.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: Your life depends on it.
• 37:46
  Speaker 4: We heard twelve strike from the church steeple. And then one, two,
• 37:52
  Speaker 4: and three. as we waited out our dreadful vigil. Suddenly,
• 37:59
  Speaker 4: there was a momentary gleam of light in the direction
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: of the ventilator. It vanished immediately, and then suddenly a
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: sound became audible. A gentle hissing.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: Like a small jet of steam escaping from a kettle.
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: The instant he heard it, Holmes was off the bed,
• 38:18
  Speaker 4: struck a match, and was lashing furiously with his cane
• 38:21
  Speaker 4: at the bell pole.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: You see it, Watson?
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: You see it? But I saw nothing. At the moment
• 38:25
  Speaker 4: when Holmes had struck a light, I'd heard a low,
• 38:29
  Speaker 4: clear whistle. Holmes had ceased to strike and was looking
• 38:34
  Speaker 4: up at the ventilator when.
• 38:39
  Speaker 4: I say, what can that mean, Holmes?
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: It means that it's all over, and perhaps for the best.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: Take your pistol and come with me to Dr. Roylott's room.
• 38:54
  Speaker 4: When we entered the room cautiously, a bizarre sight met
• 38:58
  Speaker 4: our eyes. Dr. Grimsby Rowlett sat in a chair beside
• 39:03
  Speaker 4: the open door of the safe. Across his lap lay
• 39:07
  Speaker 4: the short stock with the long leash we'd seen earlier
• 39:11
  Speaker 4: in the day. His chin was cocked upward and his
• 39:14
  Speaker 4: eyes fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner
• 39:19
  Speaker 4: of the ceiling. wound tight around his brow was a
• 39:23
  Speaker 4: peculiar yellow band with brownish speckles.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: The band, Watsons. The speckled band. A swamp adder. The
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: deadliest snake in India. He died within ten seconds of
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: being bitten.
• 39:44
  Speaker 4: After we'd used the dog leash to thrust the reptile
• 39:49
  Speaker 4: back into the safe, I notified the county police. Holmes
• 39:53
  Speaker 4: explained to me and Miss Stoner.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: Once I'd noticed the bell rope was a dummy and
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: the bed nailed to the floor, I instantly thought about
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: the rope being used as a bridge for something coming
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: through the ventilator and passing to the bed.
• 40:06
  Speaker 5: But the snake's venom, Mr. Holmes. Surely the coroner would.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: That type of poison is undetectable. And it would take
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: a sharp-eyed coroner to detect the two minute punctures which
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: would show where the snake had struck. When I saw
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: the saucer of milk and the dog leash, the picture
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: was complete. He had trained it by means of the
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: whistle to return for the milk after sliding down the rope.
• 40:30
  Speaker 4: But Holmes, how could he be sure the snake would strike?
• 40:33
  Speaker 5: He couldn't.
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: But sooner or later, it was bound to. That was
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: why the seat of the chair in the doctor's room
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: was deeply indented by his standing on it for many
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: nights to call back the snake. Tonight, The reptile, enraged
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: by my blows with the cane, turned on the doctor
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: and killed him. As I reread Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: stories about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, I begin to
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: think that part of their never-ending appeal is they create
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: a world where injustice is served. Violence recoils upon the violent,
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: and criminals are brought to book by the brilliant deductions
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: of a gallant detective rather than through the impersonal use
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: of computers. All in all, there's a lot to be
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: said for such a world. I'll be back shortly. A
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: forgotten man in the Sherlock Holmes stories is the young
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: doctor who introduced Watson to Holmes. He's referred to as
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: Young Stamford. And the chance that brought this about was
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: when he and Watson ran into each other at the
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: Criterion Bar in London. Insofar as I know, the criterion
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: is still there. I, for one, vote that a small
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: plaque commemorating that meeting should be set up in the criterion.
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: And perhaps someday in the near future, it will be.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: Our cast included Kevin McCarthy, Court Benson, Patricia Elliott, and
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: Jackson Beck. The entire production was under the direction of
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: Hyman Brown. And now, a preview of our next tale.
• 42:34
  Speaker 4: You know the address? Summer Street, I think. And the
• 42:39
  Speaker 4: phone number I have that.
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: You've been at the station here all day?
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: I see.
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: How about lunch?
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: Oh, well, I'm out about one hour.
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, when? Usual time, twelve to one.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Maybe a little more.
• 42:55
  Speaker 5: I am the boss.
• 42:56
  Speaker 4: You go home?
• 42:57
  Speaker 3: No, I bring him a lunch.
• 42:59
  Speaker 4: Then I go sit in the park where there is
• 43:01
  Speaker 4: the sun.
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: I am alone.
• 43:03
  Speaker 4: No, no, no noise, you know.
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: Yes, I know.
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: It's like the next best thing to an alibi.
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: An alibi?
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: Hey, what are you talking about?
• 43:15
  Speaker 4: You think I killed Sam?
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: Did you? No.
• 43:20
  Speaker 5: Why should I?
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: I got no answers. Right now, there ain't anything but questions.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: Radio Mystery Theater was sponsored in part by Buick Motor
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: Division and Contact, the 12-hour cold capsule.
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: This is E.G.
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: another adventure in the macabre. Until next time, pleasant dreams.