 It's time now for Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons. Treat common cold symptoms as you would a serious illness. Go after those aches and pains, headache and fever if present. Take Hills cold tablets. They're specially prepared from a proven formula, famous for more than 50 years. Take only as directed. Remember, Hills cold tablets. Ladies and gentlemen, Colin O's toothpaste presents Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons. One of the most famous characters of American fiction and one of radio's most thrilling dramas. Tonight and every Thursday at the same time, the famous old investigator takes from his file and brings to us one of his most celebrated missing persons cases. Next time you buy a dentifers, get high polishing, high foaming, Colin O's toothpaste or tooth powder. Colin O's is a double result dentifers with a mouthwash effect built right in. Freshens your breath while you're brushing your teeth. Tomorrow, buy Colin O's. And now, Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, who brings us the case of the absent-minded professor. Our story opens one evening in New York in the home of Dr. Roland Barton, professor of English literature at Harwith University. As he sits before the fireplace with his wife Julia, he asks, Julia, my dear, are you sure you're feeling all right now? Oh, perfectly, Roland. Do stop fuzzing. And read me another little poem. You read so beautifully. Well, let's have a look through this collection now. Let's see. Oh, here's one. Just the thing. She walks in beauty like the night of cloudless climbs and starry skies. Oh, how lovely. You know, my dear, the first thing that struck me about you was the way you walked and talked and looked. Darling, I'm not exactly young anymore. I wonder whether you really are happy here. Why not? With such a beautiful wife and a lovely stepdaughter like Joan? My dear, you look very sleepy. I think you'd better get to bed. Really? I'm perfectly all right. All right, why you gave Joan and me the fright of our lives at dinner tonight? No more talk about that. It's not really very poetic the way I keep getting those attacks of indigestion. Well, thank heavens Joan brought you your medicine in time. And tomorrow I'm finally taking you to the doctor. Perhaps. But right now I'd love to hear a poem. That little thing by Herrick. Hm? Herrick? Who's Herrick? If you want the absent-minded professor. Robert Herrick, the Cavalier poet. You've been lecturing on him for 20 years, you know. Oh, yes, yes. Herrick, Herrick, gather your rose buds. Yes, yes. Gather your rose buds while you may. Old time is still flying. And this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow, will be dying. Julia. Julia. She's dozed off. Julia, dear, don't you hear me? What happened? She's turned so ghastly pale. Julia! I'm shaking you, don't you feel it? Something's happened to her. Joan, come here quickly, Joan! Professor Barton. Your mother, she's dozed off here. I can't bring her to. Mother? Mother? Why, she doesn't seem to be breathing at all. Julia, Julia! I think, I think she's dead. Joan, my dear, tell me. Yes. Just what was that medicine you gave your mother tonight? And now a week later the doorbell of the Barton home is run by a slight elderly gentleman. Yeah? Is this the Barton home? Who wants to know? My name is Keen. Here's my card. Oh, yeah. Everybody knows about you, Mr. Keen. I was asked to come here by Miss Joan Gardner. She's Professor Barton's stepdaughter. Don't I know it? Well, may I come in? Mr. Keen. Mr. Keen. Miss Gardner, I presume? Yes. Do come in. One second. I don't know. It's my right to talk to Mr. Keen if I want, officer. I'm not having you standing there like a watchdog. Okay, okay. Come, Mr. Keen. Let's go to the library. As you wish. Here. This way. Oh, Mr. Keen, this is all so horrible. Steady, my dear. That man at the door. His name is Lonegan. He's a detective from the New York police. So I gather... He's around here all day poking into every closet. The way he keeps staring at me. The way everybody does. Joan, my dear, I'm here to help you. Let's have the whole story. It's my mother. She died a week ago in this house. So I read in the papers. But you tell me how it happened. Well, Mr. Keen, I should explain that mother was subject to attacks of acute indigestion. That night at dinner, it happened again. Professor Barton, he's my stepfather. Yes, go on. He asked me to run and get mother's medicine. What sort of medicine? It was a powder for indigestion. She kept a small jar of it in the bathroom. I did just what mother always did herself. I got two large spoonfuls of it, poured them into a glass of water. I brought it back to mother. Gave it to her myself. And then? Two hours later, she died in her chair. I see. The doctor thought it all very unusual. Next day, he had the medicine and the jar analyzed. And? Something else had got mixed into the jar. A sleeping powder, a very powerful one. Really? I'd given mother enough to kill five people. One moment. How did that sleeping powder get into the house? That was mother's tool. How they ever got mixed up, I don't know. Well, my dear, accidents will happen. Accidents? They're saying it was no accident at all. What have the police said to you? I can't bear this. I wish I'd never been forced... Joan! Joan, come back! Better go after her. Good morning. I beg your pardon, the young lady... Oh, yes, my stepdaughter, you mean? Then you must be Professor Barton. That's right. I believe we've met before. Yes, you're Harold Vanderbroek of Yale. No, no, I'm... Your paper on the Elizabethan ports. No, no, my name is Keen. I'm an investigator. Keen? Keen? Oh, yes, yes, Joan said she was sending for you. Poor girl. She's in a very bad frame of mind. Yes, I know that. Mr. Keen, would you step back into the library with me? Yes, of course, Professor. I could understand a certain amount of self-reproach, but the way she's taking this... Well, you see, there are certain reasons. My poor wife was a very rich woman. She left a very large estate. Really? Under her will, I've inherited some $50,000 myself. And Joan, five times as much. Oh. To make matters worse, Joan and her mother were... not on good terms. What was the trouble, if I may ask? Well, Joan recently became obsessed, Mr. Keen, with a young scoundrel by the name of... Oh, yes, Frank Lawrence. Frank Lawrence? He taught chemistry for a while at the university, but Joan's mother did not approve of him. May I ask why? Well, Lawrence was up to his ears in debt. Last year, the university discharged him. Joan's mother felt he was interested in Joan only for her money. Did, uh, did Lawrence visit here? Yes, Mr. Keen, much against the wishes of Joan's mother. The last time was... Yes? The day before Julia died. I see. Professor, where was Mrs. Barton's medicine usually kept? In the hall bathroom. A place of common access. Please, Mr. Keen, I'm not making charges against anybody. If you'll excuse me now, I... I think I'd better go to Joan's. Yes, of course, sir. Don't bother showing me to the medicine closet. I'll find the way. Just down the hall, glad to have met you, Vanderbrook. Keen is the name. Oh, yes, yes, Keen. Well, this is the situation. Mr. Keen. Mr. Keen. Yes? I'm the housekeeper here, Mrs. Gleason. Well? I just heard you talking with Professor Barton. So I was, Mrs. Gleason. Are you going ahead with this case? Are you going to investigate? If Miss Gardner still wants me to. Well, if you want my opinion... Yes? There's plenty to investigate. What do you mean by that? Find out for yourself. Come in. Oh, good morning, Mike. Good morning, boss. I'm sure as my name is Michael Clancy, I've been from one end of this town to the other in the tale of this Frank Lawrence. He gets around to plenty of bars and gambling joints. Any luck, Mike? Well, a fellow at the university gave me a tip on one of the reasons they fired Lawrence last year. Seems he was tied up with some dopering. Or anything? The FBI never did get the goods on him, but he was supposed to be using his knowledge as a chemist. Anything more? Well, yes, sir. One night in a bar, Mr. Keen, he got lit up and started talking about how rich he was going to be. His exact words were... Yes? He says, one of these days, the old lady will cash in and so will I. Quite a ruffian. Do you have his address, Mike? Yes, sir. Right here. Well, thank you, Mike. I'm going right over there. Oh, so you're Mr. Keen and you're Frank Lawrence. Very interesting situation. The master detective faces the master criminal. They size each other up, ready for the duel to death. Never mind the comedy, Lawrence. You're in a bad spot and you know it. Could be. You were heard expressing hope that Mrs. Barton would die. That's a lie. I have witnesses who say it isn't. Well, what do you want, Keen? An honest statement from you before I turn my information over to the police. I'm trying to be fair to you. Are you? And listen to this. Somebody else in that house stood to profit from Mrs. Barton's death. I know. Professor Barton. He told me so himself. I mean Mrs. Gleason. The housekeeper? Yes. She'd worked for Mrs. Barton 20 years. Mrs. Barton was going to leave her $10,000. A lot of money for a housekeeper. May I use your phone? Help yourself. Is Miss Joan Gardner there? Speaking. Oh, this is Mr. Keen. Oh, I've been wondering about you, Mr. Keen. Is anything turned up? Have you been able to...? Something quite important, my dear. I want to drop over and have a talk with your housekeeper. Mrs. Gleason, she isn't here. No. She was... Oh, she is ill? She decided to go off to the home of her sister. Well, Joan, can you get me her sister's address? Well, it's around somewhere, Mr. Keen. Well, get it for me at once. This is vitally important. In just a moment, Mr. Keen continues with a strange case of the absent-minded professor. Meanwhile, one thing you will notice about Kalano's toothpaste the first time you try it is the way it multiplies itself 25 times in foam. And it's this rich, active Kalano's foam that freshens your breath while you're brushing your teeth. So use high-polishing, high-forming Kalano's. A double-result toothpaste with a mouthwash effect built right in. Remember, Kalano's helps your brush clean teeth so beautifully it has been approved by thousands of dentists. Get Kalano's toothpaste. Or if you'd rather use powder, try Kalano's Tooth Powder. Ask for K-O-L-Y-N-O-S. Kalano's. Now back to Mr. Keen and the case of the absent-minded professor. Mr. Keen has hurried to the house where Mrs. Gleason, the housekeeper, is ill. Good morning. Oh, it's you again, Mr. Keen. And you again, Detective Lonegan, homicide squad. Right. What brings you here? The same thing I imagine has brought you here. I understand, Mrs. Gleason, the Barton housekeeper is here at her sister's home and very sick. More than that. Dead? It happened early this morning. Yes, you might say, of lightning striking twice. If you mean was there foul play, was she murdered? Was she? I was just talking to the doctor. She died of typhoid fever. Typhoid? A natural death. Yes, perfectly natural, but... But what, Mr. Keen? But at a very unnatural time. Good morning, Professor Barton. Well, I say it's Professor Greenwood of Princeton. Oh, no, my name... I was reading your book on Chaucerone last week and I must say... My name is Keen, K-E-E-N. Oh, yes, yes, the detective chap. Well, is there anything we can do for you? I'm rather worried about your stepdaughter. About Joan. Well, so am I. I thought just as a precaution... Professor Barton, begon your pardon. Yes, Mary. A telephone call for you from Dr. Holmes at the university. Yes, will you excuse me, Mr. Keen? Of course. If you want to see Joan, meanwhile, she's in her study, that first door to the right. Good. I do want to see her. We'll start on the right. Oh, Joan. Joan. Joan. I don't like this. Dr. Keen. Didn't you hear me knock? I... I was writing a letter. A letter? Or something else? I don't understand what you mean. Really, the way people stare at me these days. The things they talk about behind my back. Joan, my dear. Yes? I want you to make me a promise. What? That you will give up this idea of committing suicide. Suicide? Why, Mr. Keen, all I was doing was writing a letter to a friend. May I look at that letter? No. No, it's very personal. Joan, I know how badly you feel about your mother's death. Everybody's turned on me. Even Frank Lawrence, he hasn't come near me once. I know. But let me say just this. I, for one, don't feel you had any responsibility for your mother's death. I gave her that drug. You were the unwitting instrument of some other person. Of whom? Of whom? I'll find out sooner or later. I was hoping to get a little help from Mrs. Leeson, but unfortunately... Yes? She died early today of typhoid fever. Oh, dear Lord. I was so very fond of her. Are you fond of Professor Barton, too? Naturally, Mr. Keen. He's always been such a dear. How long were he and your mother married, Joan? Two years. Would you happen to know where he taught before he came here to New York? Yes. Marlowe State College out west. Why do you ask? Simply a routine check, Joan. Was he ever married before? Yes. First wife died, too. But, Mr. Keen, if you've got any idea, Professor Barton is a sinister old murderer. Why, he's the gentlest thing alive. Yes. That's what everyone says. Why, yes, Mr. Keen. I remember Professor Barton very well. We both joined the English department here at Marlowe State College the same year. What was your impression of him, Professor Murray? Charming fellow. I liked him very much. Excellent teacher. My contacts with him are all professional. His closest friend here was actually Dr. Montgomery. Montgomery? Yes, yes. The well-known bacteriologist. Oh, yes, yes. I've heard of him. Is Dr. Montgomery still here at Marlowe? Oh, yes, yes, yes. Heading a graduate section now. Something else, sir. Do you happen to remember Professor Barton's wife? Alice Barton? Oh, yes, yes, yes. Poor thing. Always aiding. What was her trouble? Asthma, I believe. Asthma. Is that what she died of? No, Mr. Keen. What then? Pneumonia, as I remember. Virus pneumonia. Oh. Has it carried her away in two days? In other words, she died a natural death. Of course. That's one thing more. Where did Professor Barton teach before he came here? Would you remember that? Let me see. Oh, yes, yes. Yes, at Grant University. Made quite a reputation there for his research on the Cavalier poets during the reign of... Oh, thank you, Professor. Grant University. I shall go there next. Oh, yes, Mr. Keen. We had Professor Barton here at Grant University for all of ten years. We were sorry to lose him. He was such a fine man. Why did he leave, Professor Roberts? Well, he had a better offer from Marlowe State College. Besides, he needed a change. He was so broken up at the time by the death of Helen. Helen? Yes, his wife. His wife? I've known of a Mrs. Julia Barton and a Mrs. Alice Barton, but... No, no, this was Helen. And she died here? Of what? And now let me see. She was ill quite a long time. It was something quite unusual. Can you remember specifically? Oh, yes, yes, cholera. It isn't often that one runs across a case of that, Mr. Keen. I was so struck at the time. And so, my dear Professor, am I. Well, boss, I'm glad to see you back at the office. The workers certainly piled up while you were gone. I'm sorry, Mike. I didn't think it was going to take so long. Did you discover anything on your trip west? Not as far as the eye could see. Then what does that mean, sir? Just what it says, Mike. Riddles, nothing but riddles. Any word from Joan Gardner while I was gone? Well, she formed three times this morning. Nothing special, just asked for you, Mr. Keen. Mike, I'm going to the Barton home at once. Well, what for, sir? In this case, there's been one natural death after another. I'm going to interfere for once with the course of nature. Good evening, Mary. Good evening, sir. Is Professor Barton at home? No, sir. He went to the university. On a Saturday evening? He had an appointment there with Dr. Holmes, I believe. Holmes? He's on the medical faculty, isn't he? I wouldn't know, sir. Well, I'd like to see Miss Joan then. Please come in. Miss Joan's in a room. She and Professor Barton had some tea there before he went out. Did they? I'll go and tell her you're here. I'll go right along with you if you don't mind. This way. You seem awfully worried, Mr. Keen. Yes, I am. Oh, she's laying down for a nap. Joan? Joan? Why would she sleep indeed? Joan, wake up. Can't you hear me? Joan, open your eyes. Oh, Mr. Keen, look at this. On the night table. I see. It's a note. Yeah, Mr. Keen, I cannot bear all the suspicions, all the talk. I'm doing the only possible thing taking my life. Good evening, Professor Barton. Oh, it's you, Keen. What are you doing here in my library? Waiting for you. I have very bad news. Oh, what do you mean? Look at this note. Cannot bear. Good. It happens so heartily. Horrible. How did she do it? With the same drug that killed her mother. What a girl of her age so pretty and charming. Everything to live for. Why? Why? The note explains itself. Self-reproach for her mother's death. Oh, this ill-starred house, one death and then a second so soon after. There's a curse on me. More than two deaths. You're forgetting Mrs. Gleason. Yes, poor creature. And if we go back into ancient history... I don't follow. You seem to have been cursed twice before, my dear professor. You're referring to the fact that I was married twice before. And that both ladies in their turn also died. Well, you see, I'm a very unfortunate man, Mr. King. A veritable angel of death. Alice died of pneumonia. Perfectly natural death. As far as the eye can see. Helen died of cholera. And Mrs. Gleason, the housekeeper of typhoid. All natural death. Professor Barton, may I offer a theory? Yes, yes, of course. In a modern city like New York, typhoid is not very usual. Natural, but not usual. How did Mrs. Gleason get typhoid? By catching it, I suppose, I don't know. Could it be that somebody deliberately dropped a culture of typhoid germs into the pot of coffee she left for herself on the gas range? Fantastic. Your second wife, Alice Barton, died of pneumonia. But she had long suffered from asthma. Yes, a very pernicious form. One that required hypodermic injections daily. Injections that she trusted her husband to give. You are insinuating, Mr. King, that I substituted the pneumonia germs. What of the first, Mrs. Barton? Couldn't she have caught cholera, also unusual, from a cup of tea into which cholera germs had been caught? Mr. King, I'm a professor of English literature. What would I know about germ cultures? Where would I get them? Professor Barton, I've been struck by a curious fact. What is that? Wherever you have taught your closest friend has not been a man in your own field literature, but in another, bacteriology. At Marlowe College, it was Professor Montgomery. Here it has been Dr. Holmes. You were constantly visiting them in their laboratories, always dropping in for a chat. That proves nothing. But here's another fact. In every case where one of these women died a natural death, so-called, a culture of germs disappeared a few days before from the laboratory of the university where you were teaching. How? How did you ever find that out? Simple. Laboratory assistants are required to keep a constant inventory of all germ cultures. If any are missing, it must be recorded in the books. Well, Keen, you make me sound like a blue beard. Exactly what you are. You killed each of your three wives for money. Mrs. Gleeson, the housekeeper, went because she began to suspect you. Joan, for the same reason. But my dear fellow Joan left the suicide note. Yes. And that rather knocked your whole theory sky-high, Mr. Keen. That suicide note was written a week ago. I talked to Joan and made her change her mind. But she was careless enough to leave that note around for you to pick up. Most interesting. Then, just a few hours ago, you went in to have tea with her. Overpowered her, forced her to drink that drug. Am I right? Now, you let me ask a question. What are you going to do about it? There's a policeman outside waiting to arrest you. Keen, you put me in mind of a lovely little poem by Richard Loveless. Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage. Go ahead, the rest of me. Put me on trial. Your theories won't stand up in a court for a moment. I'll bring a hundred character witnesses from every walk of life. And I'll go free because you have nothing but theories to offer. Nothing but theories! Professor Barton, will you do me just one favor? What is it? Open the library door, just behind you. What for? Open it, please. Very well, Mr. Keen. Joan! You tried to murder me. Joan, look here. What's that drug down my throat? If Mr. Keen hadn't come here in time, if he hadn't called a doctor, they'd told him what the drug was. You're horrible! Horrible! Well, Professor Barton, have you anything to say now before I turn you over to the police? Perhaps I can suggest something to you. Can you? There's an old saying that faith finally catches up with a scoundrel. And now, Detective Lonegan, we're ready for you. And so, Mr. Keen concludes the case of the absent-minded professor. The hour is late. Before a quiet house, stand a boy and girl. Listen. Thanks, Tom, for a very nice evening. How about a good night kiss, Ginny? I'm afraid not, Tom. It's late. I must run. But this is what she was thinking. Kiss you? No, sir. If you only knew the truth. Friends, the truth is that in love, as in business and social life, unwelcome breath and dingy teeth are barriers to success. But when they're due to improper cleansing, colonos can help. For colonos is a double-result toothpaste with a mouthwash effect built right in. A high-polishing, high-forming toothpaste that freshens your breath while you're brushing your teeth. When you use colonos, take advantage of its grand, two-way benefits. After brushing your teeth with colonos, swish its rich, bubbly foam through your mouth like a mouthwash. The way it helps clean your teeth, what it does for your breath, will show you why thousands of dentists have approved it. If you like powder better than paste, try colonos toothpaste powder. It offers the same double-result and has a delightful wintergreen flavor. So ask for KOLYNOS, toothpaste or toothpaste powder. Tomorrow, buy colonos. You have been listening to Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, on the air every Thursday at this time. Don't miss Mr. Keen next Thursday when the kindly old tracer turns to the case of the blood-stained piece of tin. This is Larry Elliott saying goodbye for Mr. Keen and the Whitehall Pharmacal Company, makers of colonos toothpaste and tooth powder. Wax your floors to spread it and forget it way with old English, no rubbing wax. Watch it dry itself to a high long-lasting luster. Old English saves you all rubbing and back-breaking polishing of linoleum or wood floors. Old English, no rubbing wax. The spread it and forget it way costs only $0.39 a pint. Friends, this is Mr. Keen again. Tonight, I appeal to you to give generously to the Red Cross. Last year, the Red Cross saved thousands in 259 disasters in America and millions overseas through gifts of food, medicine and clothing. It collected millions of pints of blood, aided sick and wounded servicemen and their families, and served in countless other ways. This year, our Red Cross needs $200 million. So please do your best, won't you? This is CBS The Columbia Broadcasting System.