 Whitehall 1212 for the first time in its history Scotland Yard opened its official files to bring you the true story of some of its most important cases Research for Whitehall 1212 is from Percy Hoskins Chief crime reporter of the London Daily Express The stories for radio are written and directed by Willis Cooper You will now hear the voice of Chief Superintendent John Davidson who is in charge of the famous black museum of Scotland Yard Afternoon Let me show you this thing Have a good look Unless you're a member of a rather uncommon profession. I doubt you'll know what it is Like many of the exhibits in the black museum here. This is a murder weapon and like many of our murder weapons It is a tool of a trade and even after I tell you what it is. I wonder if you'll know what it's for It's an Arnkush a Gold used by an elephant man a mahut You've seen these things before I wager you But I'll agree that this is an odd place to find one and Here is inspector Samuel Tupper The first of us from Scotland Yard who saw it inspector I was at the head of the rotor of inspectors this particular night in the autumn of 1928 so It was my job to go to Regent's Park when the call came in that murder had been done The taper house of the zoo there is near the outer circle of the park Excuse me, would it be a good idea inspector if you told what a taper house is? Oh Oh It's where they keep the taper sir. I'm sure you don't mean wax candles. No, sir The taper is a hoop swine like mammal a lie to the rhinoceros It has four toes and it's fun feet and three on the back and it snouts it's prolonged into a short mobile proboscis Found in Indian Sumatra and there are species in certain parts of South America Notably Brazil where it's found in the vicinity of abundant water its body is generally blackish except of the Sumatran variety Which has white patches partly nocturnal quite gentle and dispossession only grunts. Thank you. Bye. Welcome These were the ordinary ones mostly blackish ones in the taper house now I Found police constable John Charles daily awaiting me at the door of the taper house while his companion Please console Henry Eastman was on duty upstairs Alongside the entrance of them was lying on the grass Who's dressed in oriental clothing is very quiet Who did it I asked PC daily, it's not him sir. He's just broke his leg Who's dead then I said somebody was dead the dead is upstairs there were PC Eastman is Who's this one? I don't know his name So he's some sort of Indian or something he jumped out of the window or fell out is the way I understand it Don't you know man? No, sir. Not very much. I'm afraid right here of council. I'm sorry, sir. I can't understand him Oh, and now the bet's given me more fear or something and he's passed out and the other one. Oh That's a bit of doctor here. I mean the bet sir He's been treating a sick elephant sir He came out of you know, but when he heard all the motions or what what was the commotion all the shouting and yelling sir Who was shouting? I don't know sir That's what the best said attracted him and he came here and over This chap was howlin and moaning and the bet looked at him He said turn sourced lake was all fractured and he went back and got a small pianist seren. How do you find out about? Well, sir PC Eastman and me sir. We were at the moment We were on patrol outside the park sir and I climbed over the rain in the long south of privetage to the sea and here they were Who this fellow sir and the vet who was just sticking him with this great seren So I inquired what's going on me and the bet says the man's hurt me Not the window there window. Oh That one was the glass broken. Yes, sir. He jumped out according to the bet He could understand it a little when he talked about to see his face and his arms cut by the glass Oh Well, then PC Eastman hurried up the stairway and in a moment he shouted down there's a Murdered man up there and this man stopped moaning and went to sleep and the bet went upstairs The PC Eastman came down and went to find telephone call. Yeah, sir. I see You haven't been up there yet. No, sir first I was here while PC Eastman was up there and then I was here whilst you went to make the telephone call And then I was here until you're right, sir You don't know anything about the murder them. No, sir I've been here. I could go up with you now. So if you like I don't think this chips very likely to get up and walk off for a long while Well, Morphea wet off, you know Yes, sir, but he has a broken leg And besides the vet has been working on an elephant. I doubt you remember to change the dose in the syringe, sir The upstairs room in the taper house to which I repaired after my interview with police comfortable daily was in the accurate sense of the word shambles In the middle of the disordered floor flat on his back play the murdered man Amongst the ruin of his possession Police counsel Eastman identified the various objects in the room This year was apparently his bed, sir, but the way it's tore up It looks as if them wild animals downstairs had been added I thought of that I am led to understand, sir, that many of these are oriental people use no mattress or anything And here sir is what he must have used as a cabin What's in it? Well, you see the money is scattered about the floor, sir You ever thought of any pennies in my life? There are two or three copper pennies still in this year, leather bags, sir I fancy they were all in here once Oh, and you, sir? Yes Are you the veterinary? That the other comes for told me about I am the veterinary, yes, sir I am Florence Inley, sir You gave that fellow down there shot of mafia Yes, sir, sir Constable said you gave them enough for an elephant Oh, hardly Have to admit I just remembered in time there What else, Constable? Well, sir, then there is his clothes Look as if they've been ripped to pieces by whoever killed him, sir, I expect And these here What are they? Looks like bank deposit books, ain't it? That is what they are, sir They his, the dead man? His name was Armit Ali Oh, Hindut Hindut? Muhammadan, not a Hindu How do you know? He's pretty well known around the zoo here That is the name on the bank book, sir It was his That's it He's quite a respectable balance, sir Two hundred and twelve pounds Never mind that, what about him? He is dead, sir I don't know how you could tell, Constable Well, sir, he's been beaten about the edge Something ordered, sir Oh Didn't know you was joking, sir Very thoroughly beaten Wonder what we're Hammer or axe, I'm saying, from the looks You find anything like that, Constable? No, sir, but it wasn't necessary anyway What do you think? The thing under him and Staker I think he's lying on Lime, sir It's very pushed right through his arse See What is that thing? Looks like a Boathook right through him It's an Ankush An what? A what? An Ankush, an elephant hook That was Armit's job, he was an elephant man You have any idea who did this, Mr. Henry? What is that? Yes, what is that? An animal? It's the other man What other? The one with a broken leg, downstairs Come along, I want to see what he's got to say Yes, sir Stay here, Constable, come on, Doc Coming Who is this one, do you know, Don? Another elephant man He lives here with Armit Ali Anyone else in the building? Nobody but Taper What a good thing I gave him that shot Was he badly hurt? Well, he has that broken leg and he's been battered about the head Looks like whoever killed Armit tried to do the same to him, I'd say He's come too, sir How's he feel? He sounds terrible Let's have a look at him Oh, Tom! Do you know the fella? Yes, of course I'll put a hold, Tom I'll start his leg a bit But we better find a real people, Doc Constable, go find a telephone, please What are you going to do with him, Inspector? It's a shock for a whole town You know what to do, Constable? A telephone for an ambulance, sir I'll have him take to King's Cross, sir That's the nearest hospital Go with him and state your relief I'll want to know whatever he says I can't understand that, sir It's Hindi, he's speaking But he's a burner Yes, sir How is it you know all about this life? I thought you were a veteran Oh, Armit! Come on, Armit! Sir, she's called a khakmi Yes, sir You understand what he says? You speak it? A little, yes Ask him what happened, will you? That's what I am asking him Here, hold here Armit! Armit! What did he say? You know him? No, no, no Armit, Armit! What did he say? He said some yellow men came Yellow men? Chinese? He's a Chinese, sir No, no, no Japanese Japanese, you think? Ask him if you recognize him I know him I know him Armit, Armit! What? Four of them Trubs, hammers, they had Thank you, thank you Robert, you think? That's much like Robert Uncle, sir Uncle? That elephant hook he was stabbing That's exactly what he was saying, Inspector Uncle, uncle They They hit for me I, I Jump, going out Man run A mentalist You better give him another stab with that elephant needle He'll be alright Get the ambulance On the way, sir Come on, Mr. Emily I'd like you to tell me some more about all this If you please I've got a bungler over here to help us to sneak up Have a doctor something with me I'd like a cup of tea The officer here will see you're alright What are you talking about? A little hospital, little boy You'll be alright No, no police No, no Now then, little boy, police will take it easy We'll have to get well Why do you suppose that chap is suspicious of the police? General principal, do I expect? Oh Why not? I'm very often suspicious of police myself Are you? Why may I? General principal, Inspector Boys make a lot of noise back there I think I'll go back and give him another shot of morphine I shouldn't if I were you, Mr. Emily Why not? Obviously And if he were under the influence of a shot of morphine he wouldn't be able to talk would he? Of course not So let's not give him another shot of morphine What are you driving at? I say what are you driving at? I think you know more about this than you pretend to, Emily And what do you base your suspicions on? General principal That's ridiculous General police principal What in the world would I What would I I don't know, doctor But I have heard and seen enough to convince me that the man obviously knows who murdered the fellow up there Of course, he said he saw the four men Didn't they try to kill him too? You let him say it yourself I don't understand his language, doctor I don't know what he said I told you You said you told him Why should I lie to you? I don't know, I'm sure Now let me ask you Why should you be so quick to give a man a dose of morphine which effectively stops his talking when you first saw him? That wasn't why, Dennis Why did you do it? All right Arrest me I shall in the case of the death of the man Armadali and I warn you the ending you say will be taken down in writing Will you come with me, please? Did you ever hear a taper? Try sitting by yourself with only a recently dead man for company in the house where the tapers live It's an experience you're not likely to forget and I rather suspect the tapers won't forget it either Constable Eastman had taken Mr. Alien charge and had escorted him to the doctor's bungalow near the snake house where he had telephoned Scotton Yard for assistance in carting the doctor off to jail I heard the ambulance arrive and depart with Constable Daly and Pond Bo and his broken leg That left me the dead man and the tapers to ourselves I waited the dead man waited the tapers and very cozy I waited panther I believe quiet out though doubt gentle Armadali lay there quietly under the glare from the little incandescent bulb and stared at each other and then exactly like an old Leslie Howard Scarlett Pimpernell picture the door opened slowly and a man who looked like Leslie Howard stood there smiling at me I say, you're not the dead man are you? Who? Who are you? Oh I say old fellow, that's right I'm so sorry I'm always wearing they tell me I sit about like a blooming ghost or something, but I assure you I'm not Who the devil are you? Oh sorry, I'm George Scott I'm said I'm a police surgeon Didn't Constable Eastman tell us on you I was on my way I must have frightened you You didn't frighten me at all old man I was a little startled, I admit this Where was that? Only a taper Oh yes, it's a taper house Where is Eastman? He's putting the car somewhere I came on in your rubber sole shoes Oh I say I am sorry about frightening you, I didn't frighten me I said Well sorry anyway I didn't mean to you know Pity Eastman didn't telephone you There isn't any telephone here Should have thought of that Tapers don't use telephones do they? Just a dead cat Must look at him What I came for you know Well In the lives of two little kids It's my belief they don't mean Allowing for the different Engenders of course Who did it? Well What's that? That's not a taper Eastman Good Hello Eastman Hello Inspector Yes he's here This chat's been stabbed too Inspector You are an Inspector aren't you? Yes, come in Eastman Stabbed With an angkush sir What's an angkush? That thing sticking through him Yes? That didn't kill him? I didn't think it did either Well he's dead, excuse me Quite all right, Inspector No, this was done After he was dead He was beaten to death How do you know that sir? Well the chap who presumably saw him Beaten to death said that the men who did it Came up here with clubs and hammers They hammered the door down sir By the looks of it Somebody did Look what they did to the lock Look what they did to him What were they after? His money? I expect that You should Somebody's kidding you Inspector I suspect that myself They're animal doctors sir Good Lord and they're making doctors out of Doctors for animals Oh He's in jail Oh excuse me sir Constable should be seen and not heard Yes sir Who is this animal doctor Inspector He's in jail, he talked to much to see it Oh Think he knows who did Who? Four people Japanese he said Who said? The other chap mixed up in this Said they smashed the door down And then came in and beat this one to death And tried to attack him Where is he? In the hospital Broke his leg jumping out that window You thought there was a draft in here He tore a big piece out of himself On the way out too Well They could hang on the point of this shot of us He came out of his arm I'd say I had a big wound on his left arm I was under the impression That was caused by the beating Glass cut I'd better take along these shreds of gentlemen Like to compare it with him See if it fits him If he says it was caused by a blow I shall give him the lines of peace If you can understand him Understands him? He's a Berman There's this other gentleman with the boat hook In his torso It's an Angkush An Eroken god He is not a Bermese He's a Indian A Mormigen and his name's Amit Ali sir You see that these fellows who came in here And exterminated him used clubs Hammers and clubs ourselves They didn't use any clubs on this fellow What sir? None of these marks looked like the marks Of a club You can always see the shape of the hammer And here Here Here too They didn't know they were beating, didn't they? Strike me pink if I didn't Excuse me sir What are you looking at, Mr. Scarve? These marks from the door frame They looked very much like those on the chess head I'd wagered at the same They probably are They broke down the door and then came in And beat him to death Probably did We'd better get the two marks measured Then we can find the hammer Yes, counsel Sir, there's a hammer down there Down there on the cross Quite close to where this one is Jumped with lion mounted Could that be the one? How would it get down there? Down there, sir Can you find it, you think? Well, sir, if you were to be so kind What you would know is How he could have got down there Probably wrenched it away from one of the assassins And leapt through the window with it What? Blessed have I know Where are you? There it is I can see it from here What did you expect? Ostrich feathers? Eastman brought the hammer up to us And we tested it against the wounds in Armadale's skull Then we tested it By laying it in the indentations Where the hammer had smashed against the wooden door It fits, sir How could he take it with him When he jumped out of the beating window? How could he possibly... That's what I'd like to know Well... He's a not-braver man than I'd ever be All right He's a brave man Eastman There's a telephone in Aenle's bungalow Yes, sir, I'm now I want you to get down there And get through it once to Constable Daley At King's Cross Hospital What's his name? The man he took to the hospital See if he's in shape to talk I want to see him at once And discover if we're right But we can't understand him Well, in that case Where'd you take the animal doctor? Bout streets, sir Well, telephone them and have them sent over For us, will you? Yes, sir Excuse me, Inspector Yes Wasn't this supposed to be the door that was hammered down By the murderers? Yes Before the murder? Yes, of course And we know it was done with the same hammer That murdered the fellow We know that Look at the mark the hammer made On the door thing There's blood in the marks Mm-hmm And let's see the hammer again They match Then we're both thinking the same thing How could blood get Into the marks on the door Before there was any blood on the hammer head? The door was hammered down After the man was killed Inspector You're Constable Yes, sir, is that you? Get the car at once What? What's wrong? Who's running away? What? We found him After two weeks search He was hiding the cellar Of Mr. Aimee's bungalow at the zoo Aimee found him I also had Aimee tell you I'm quite sure from the very beginning That Tom Bowe did it I knew why Tom Bowe was a substitute Elephant man The boss was Armit Ali Always collected the pennies For children who visited the zoo Gave to Chang The big grayish white elephant The kid's friend Tom Bowe got none And the Armit Ali Who, unlike most Mohammedans Like the taste of alcohol Had beaten Chang I know, I dress the poor beast's wounds A little Tom Bowe loved Chang too That's why he murdered Armit I'm a sure of it And I like little Tom too I'm sure we'd find him hiding With his poor broken leg In the cellar of the bungalow By the window The window that looks out On the elephant enclosure Where Chang lived So they brought the little elephant Man to trial And they sentenced him to hang But there was a great and good Man who stood beside the little Tom Bowe before the criminal Court of Appeals And the day came when the judges listened And when the great man finished Speaking The little dark man was sent away A free man To Burma Where the elephants come from Paired today in Whitehall 1212 Horace Brayum as Inspector Tupper Others in the order of their appearance Harvey Hayes Lester Fletcher Gais Ball Morris Dullamore François Grimard And Gerard Burke Whitehall 1212 is written and directed By Willis Cooper Thousands of Americans have made blood donations To Iran forces Ask any of them And they'll tell you that donating blood Is simple, easy, almost effortless Practically every new blood donor says Why there's nothing to it No, there's nothing to it Yet that simple act May mean the difference between life and death To a boy fighting now in Korea There are millions and millions of Americans Who can give blood so easily And yet we need hundreds of thousands Of pints of blood to prevent needless suffering And loss of life 10 should make a blood donation To the armed forces now Through your local Red Cross chapter Call the Red Cross or blood bank In your community for an appointment Do it today This is NBC The National Broadcasting Company