 one to one to the first time in its history scottland yard opened its official files to bring you the true stories of some of its most celebrated cases research for whitehall one to one who is finished by percy huskens keep crime reporter of the london daily express the stories for radio are written and directed by willis cooper you'll now hear from the man in charge of scottland yards famous black museum chief superintendent john david good afternoon is not for a change of murder weapon but through its use a murderer was brought to book it is normally a most innocuous article in osan and in its way useful you don't recognize it, do you not? of course it's a blotting pair regrettably magenta and color big enough to hide a newspaper beneath it if one wishes to hide a newspaper you find blotters like this on desks in the writing rooms of small hotels in britain and strangely enough that is where superintendent edward weston found this one i shall ask superintendent weston to tell you about it on the eve of the august bank holiday weekend in nineteen thirty one july thirty first to be precise since the holiday itself was to be Monday the third of august and i was planning to spend it at stonehenge on solstery plain i was notified that i was wanted for the investigation of a murder at oxford i sighed regretfully over the departed thoughts of stonehenge and the friar's heel said yes sir quite politely and was told i would hear shortly from a man in oxford and put up the telephone it immediately rang again superintendent weston uh... what's that your the man who was to call me it was your sister who murdered her? you're in oxford tell me where to come in oxford same clemen's street now i'll find it will you be there? i took the midnight train which deposited me in the university city before daylight i found the cottage near mordland bridge without much difficulty Arthur Hughes was there uncomfortable in a stiff chair beside the door the constable was frankly asleep i identified myself to Hughes and we went inside sir she's in here sir i have lifted the weight free of the cushion sir on the table top she was completely hidden under them i came to the house sir i will turn on another light yes that's better thank you is it your usual custom to come here? we are intended to spend the holiday together sir i came to take her to the train this is the way you found her yes sir under this pile of cushions and this tablecloth you said that yes sir i did indeed and this is the way i found her moved anything? no sir i am not the house is exactly the same as it was the medical man buried her he did not need to as you can see from her head my poor sister have you any idea? i have none what is your business? professional i am a scout at Jesus College that is the accepted term here in the University for Personal Servants i am a young man from Canarvon a fine non-performance gentleman yes sir the great many of the scholars at Jesus College are well sir you're well too my sister and i come from Ponto Preet in the Morganshire sir you were on good terms with your sister of course i was that i love my sister dearly and you say you have no suspicions i am not sir if i could think who in the world had done this my hands would be at his throat this very minute i should not be here i assure you i think the first thing to do is to remove your sister's body to the mortuary Mr Hughes that is well thought of superintendent if i wait in the constable at the door then please do sir so i will then an ambulance was duly fetched we removed the cushions which had been placed on top of the body which was the fourth we have taken away and Hughes and i devoted ourselves to an examination of the room to me it is quite evident that my sister was taken by surprise what makes you think that there on the side boat is a small nosegay of flowers from the garden every morning my dear sister took a nosegay to the grave of our sister mortuary she has not missed one morning in the 11 years since mort died if the flowers are still here then anything else you can see through this door the room in which my dear sister slept please notice that her bed is only half made yes i see and in the scullery here are breakfast dishes still unwashed she would never leave them that way yes and here is a new vacuum cleaner she left that too for years but the vacuum cleaner isn't connected up you see the flex isn't plugged in she wasn't using it there is something strange about that what's that she always vacuumed the house in the afternoon not in the morning she was a creature of an incredible habit but my dear sister i don't think i'd follow you mr Hughes it is quite evident she was interrupted this morning by the bed and the breakfast dishes and the vacuum cleaner should not be here sure you didn't put it there yourself of course not sir why should i sure i don't know it was there when i came in that the door was unwashed and there it was and she was lying here under this great pile of ah what now that's not my sister's vacuum cleaner who's is it then who's is it can you tell it looks ever so much like the one she bought last lady day a lot of her but it seems different somehow i don't know i was here with her when the man delivered it to her but know what i think no sir i think you're dotting what should we do with the vacuum cleaner in the morning have a look in the dust bag to see if she was using it well then how she'd use it without connecting it the dust bag that's what's different different quite right sir i've seen this vacuum cleaner a dozen times and the dust bag dance red just like the one i vacuumed the morgan's room that's college the dust bags are peculiarly hideous shade of cerulean mr who that blue sky blue well dark oven sky blue but it's blue how could turn blue sir i don't know are you sure you're not mistaken that it hasn't always been blue i was here i say when it was delivered and it was bad it was bad yesterday sir then what's happened to it has it been changed well why should she change it my sister she couldn't have changed it herself she couldn't mend it for fun well who changed it then besides where would she be getting another dust bag it's blue and from the vacuum cleaner shop there is no vacuum cleaner shop here in oxford she bought it from a peddler would you recognize this peddler if you saw him you've seen him before have you not he's a nice such a nice peasant young man yes yes i have seen him but what's his name do you know no i do not no superintendent i do not think i ever heard this do you know where he lives i'm sorry i do not know that he does well i'm sorry yes we have no idea that he's even been in oxford since you sold your sister that machine of that is the machine he sold her it is the machine do you see where we enamel has been knocked off the front of the thing that happened the very day he cracked the machine he knocked it against the door with him and he let my sister at it for a shilling less before off because of the damage well yes i know that machine which is indeed the same one except the dust bag yes look you superintendent it is daily to site now well i could go out and wake up some of the neighbors for my sister and ask them if they have seen this peddler here today yesterday for now which is tomorrow you know the neighbors and do them i'll go over to the police station see what i can learn then i'll return if you've learned anything uh... shall i come after you sir or will you return here better come to the station mr hughes yes sir and i'm not there yes sir i'll be at the mortuary but you wouldn't want to come there i suppose and why not sir my dear sister is there is she not they could tell me a little at the police station except that a neighbor's child had mentioned having seen a man and described at the door of misuse cottage the boundary sometime during the previous morning the man appeared the child said to be carrying a large parcel done up in green paper and further the child said nothing and the man will see no more according to the best reports was this the mysterious assailant thought i and prepared to the mortuary it was too early in the morning for the medical examiner to be there but having attained access to the dreary base i examined the dead woman's body myself item she had been beaten about the head with some sort of blunt instrument there was a fearful wound in the back of her head fished in my opinion to cause death in addition there was an incised wound in her neck which alone could have caused death she'd apparently been dead for some 24 hours which would have put the time of the assault as we had supposed about friday morning she'd bled copiously but dried blood adhering to her head and neck no other wounds were visible i returned to the boundary cottage in st. pleman street and was surprised to hear a voice that's issuing from the cottage i entered i looked at her when i came and about ten pounds all that had gone well good morning morning mr. Hughes good morning madam this lady is Mrs. Dora Abernathy sir i am one of its hugest neighbours sir i live at the bottom of st. pleman street mrs. Abernathy has been a fourth friend of my dear sister for many years sir this is superintendant weston from scotland land mrs. bay are you an inspector sir? a superintendent madam a superintendent mrs. bay i thought everyone from scotland yard is an inspector sir not all of us madam mrs. bay saw the man indeed superintendent you did huh? he stayed at my house overnight sir did mr. bay object then? oh you know Abernathy mr. Hughes he's seen the day when he hasn't the price of a night's lodger neither you're speaking of this vacuum cleaner petler i assume yes sir inspector the superintendent oh yes yes superintendent he was here then at least in the city sir little girl to the police she saw him here or saw a man at any rate yesterday morning oh you may interview the child later mrs. abernathy and see the child description tallies for that of the peddler who is the child sir? i believe her name is Daphne Covens or Covens Covens? i trust her as the Covens is young even if they have got one of them ponderanium dogs always nipping the postman you said this peddler stayed the night at your house mrs. Abernathy yes sir he did oh you know him that well then? well sir not precisely he sold Abernathy and me a vacuum cleaner like mrs. Hughes and he showed up yesterday afternoon not yesterday afternoon mrs. air before the day before he was there to meet oh yes that's right mrs. Hughes the day Abernathy was at the doctor's for his blood pressure Thursday while Abernathy was at the doctor's for that matter and he said he was in the city and had eye and he complained about my vacuum cleaner i said no and i offered him a cup of tea as a matter of course oh well superintendent did you ever drink lapsang sucong tea like mrs. Thatchild drinks? I didn't know mrs. Thatchild drank tea Abernathy's cousin who's a sergeant in the royal court catarys said he does and when he hadn't had any lapsang sucong at Aldershark when Abernathy's cousin was there it's a Churchill and it's a drink brandy so i bought two ounces by mail to Fortinman Mason to try it cost the fight that Abernathy likes it well mr. Podmore came in who is mr. Podmore? the gentleman who sold me the vacuum cleaner and we drank lapsang sucong i'm not chucking my weight about sir as the bus used to say very good although expensive smoky and then he looked at me and i could see tears in his great brown eyes he's a very handsome man is mr. Podmore yes that's a quite good look in it's very likely he murdered your sister gone mrs. Abernathy why was mr. Podmore weeping? he finally came out with it he lost his money well i just couldn't stand it i went to the tin we got the lapsang sucong in and i took out part of the money i didn't there and then i handed it to him yeah mr. Podmore i said accept this as a loan until you find your money how much did you be lending him then? four bob i think it was and sickence and when did he pay it back to the sir? he didn't have a chance mr. Hughes when he left in the morning he forgot it he'll pay it back oh indeed tell me mrs. Abernathy he took the money yes but there was no bus to tame that late in the afternoon you see sir it was going to tame then tame yes mr. Hughes he said tame is only about 12 miles away sir yes i know would you be there now mrs.air we could go there and infect him i would think so we'll wait mr. Hughes then did you show him to his room no sir he said there was some business still to be done and he went out and then he came back and he was carrying a parcel done up in green paper mrs. Hughes sir how did you know? and what was in this parcel? i don't know sir he kept it in his hand and when he came back he went to bed after we had a nice cold supper and he kept the parcel with him when he retired yes sir and then when he went out this morning and didn't come back he said he needed a shave as he did indeed sir he was bearded like a prophet sir and didn't come back i think he forgot about my four and six why did you send it to me from there? who did you want? is there a police station in Tame? in Tame sir i hate yourself oh but i'll get my money back i don't want to have the police talking to mr.podmore about that sir nevertheless the police are going to talk to him mrs. Abernathy but not about that i can assure you before i talk to the police at Tame i ask some other questions in oxford of the iron monger yes i know that bloke it was vacuum cleaners here cost me money till we did i serve vacuum cleaners myself but i have no cheap higher purchase arrangements like he has i think it was rare to see him coming into my place yesterday to buy a hammer and a chisel for me though he did buy me that was my money Abernathy will skin me and the barber dusty miller he was pointed out to me more once peddler what more he calls himself as he walked into my place of business yesterday morning getting a green paper parcel that clanked and a set of ginger whiskers down to his collar button i shaped him never asking to see the color of his money and he gave me my sixpence alright that's the last copper i've got he says with a great orate laugh and pops off and didn't i see him two hours later his drunk is a duke in charlie wilson's public house an offering to buy me beer cause he had money the best part of ten pounds all tied up with a black and white checkered air ribbon and when i said you've got money now didn't he say i've been visiting a lady my dear sister ten pounds was tied up with a black and white checkered air ribbon she wore it when she was a small child in contemplation hello it's superintendent weston of scotland yard speaking please put me through to the police station in tame tame which is a country town of about three thousand population is about twelve miles north of the city of oxford it is a typical small english country town too close to the other largest cities to have retained its ancient importance as a market town i had taken into consideration that visitors are comparatively rare in tame after asking the tame authorities to report to me at oxford by telephone i asked to be put through to ailsbury ailsbury just across the border between oxford shear and buckingham shear is a town of nearly thirty thousand it is a well-known center for straw and laces and is a municipal borough the capital of the county of buckingham shear travelers by bus from oxford to ailsbury transfer a tame a few miles away as i anticipated tame knew nothing about a vacuum cleaner salesman him pardon more and answering to the meager description i was about to give them ailsbury was more reassuring however in about midnight the first of first the first day of the bank holiday weekend i received a telephone call from sergeant urquhart there thank you sergeant oh too bad what's that oh good then i hope hughes yes sir after hughes after hughes my name i think that's our man sergeant is he still there then your uncle dan what's your uncle dan got to do with it what did he do what why what's my job sir quite why tell me that sergeant what did he get it yes sir my money now if you please measure it vacuum cleaner man said i haven't any of these now i don't know your uncle dan isn't he at the hotel he's gone yes well what did no sir he's gone you don't know where he is tell him to keep it there do you hear me sergeant yes put your uncle in jail what come on with me mr. hughes these two goodness sir where are we going then superintendent we're going to Ellesbury i think we found the man that murdered his sister in the hotel room at Ellesbury we found the suitcase in the room where the guest had left it when he had been told he was no longer welcome after hughes watched me as i opened it watched me as i lifted it up and turned it over this is a chisel that is what he bought at the ironman's then that's where one buys things like this why did he carry a thing like this about with him then are these the tools of a vacuum cleaner salesman if you will pardon me i should say they are the tools of murder oh no do you suppose that that my sister tell me i don't know look what's this what what are these bread crumbs on the floor here did they not fall out of the suitcase too wonder what they are here look at the hammer what the label's been scraped off the handle how shall we tell that it is the hammer we bought how shall we tell it what it is i think i know why the hammer had so clean why is it it had blood on it oh please my poor sister and the chisel gets cleaned too quite clean he'd have to have it cleaned if indeed he is a man who did it we can't prove he is the one no not yet my poor sister only knew where he is yes if we could find him i wonder if he gave an address when he came here the first time i could not tell him a phrase there aren't any letters or anything who would that be i don't know that he does the confinement can i say it yes i'm sergeant Burkart sir the Buckinghamshire constabulary i don't speak station sir about time you got here where's your uncle you said arrest him sir what do i do let him out yes sir and then wait sergeant i want to find this man he was here he was here are you there or isn't he i hope i beg your pardon sir what i want to know is did this man who called himself use give any address when he came here or did he write any letters did he say anything about where he lives i don't know sir but we could ask the attendant the commercial room next door say that each way letters are generally written sir come along then come along Mr Hughes yes sir through that door this one yes come along Joe yes sir left for the bank holiday i think is it i see here these blotters on the table sir on the table well that's where the guests generally blot their letters sir not convenient have you got a mirror sergeant mirror sir mirror looking fast a mirror man there's one on the wall sir here's indeed sir shall i take it down i'll get it sir oh don't drop the blaster thing i'll look out i tell you alright sir what do you want me to do with it see these signatures on the blotter they're reversed sir that's a character really in the mirror oh i can read them now sir can you then i can read them too sir look here is me a better not bother with that one what's this one say dear uncle dear i wrote that myself can't read that one why does it read all the others and write them down perhaps one of them is there oh sir i want them all copied down and i want everyone of them investigated sergeant and if one of them the man that murdered my sister someone murder your sister mate if we find him i will kill him with my whole hand oh no you won't mate i swear i will don't struggle me we'll hang him when i went back to the other room and sat down my eye fell on the curious objects that had fallen out of the suitcase i was already beginning to think of as the murderers the things that looked like a fuse had said breadcrumbs i picked one up it wasn't a breadcrumb it was a tightly rolled wad of paper curiously i dipped it into a glass of water opened up like a tiny flower petal and i saw printing on it i opened it up i reached for another and repeated the performance another same results i put them all together after a manner of a jigsaw puzzle the printing was clear now high grade steel forging and there was something else too blood stains there on the missing labels from the hammer and the chisel from the man who came to change the dust back on the vacuum cleaner on the house of the little old lady in st. clemen street i hardly noticed when the sergeant and the brother came in with a list of addresses they had copied from the reflection of the names on the blotter but four weeks later when all the addresses had been checked by policemen working round the clock there was one of them where a man named pardmore lived and he was an artiner and salesman of vacuum cleaners and when the time came he confessed and at the oxford the size of his next spring he was sentenced to hang and hang he did and Arthur Hughes smiled when he heard about it heard on white hall one two one two today Lester Fletcher as superintendent queston others in the order of their appearance Harvey Hayes Willem Williams Patricia Courtley Gordon Stern and Guy Spall this is Lionel Rico speaking white hall one two one two is written and directed by Willis Cooper whole blood and blood plasma are of vital importance in treating wounded men they are the one treatment for which no amount of medical skill can provide a substitute to give our soldiers in Korea because they must have for life 300,000 pints a month are needed the American Red Cross will not take your blood unless it is perfectly safe for you to give it and if you're one of the forgetful people think it over you'll realize that giving blood is about the most important thing you have to remember so before you forget again phone your local Red Cross blood collection center tell them you want to give your blood to save an American life this is NBC the national broadcasting company