 Presenting Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, in The Rented Cottage Murder Case, a new weekly feature on NBC's All-Star Festival of mystery, comedy, music, and drama. Ladies and gentlemen, once again we present Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, one of the most famous characters of American fiction in one of radio's most thrilling dramas. Tonight the famous old investigator takes from his file and brings to us one of his most celebrated missing persons cases. Tonight's case is entitled The Rented Cottage Murder. Mr. Keen is presented by Anderson for a fast relief from pain of headache, neuritis, and neuralgia. By Dantine the gum with breathtaking flavor and Beeman's pepsum, the gum that's great to chew and good for your digestion too. And by Chesterfield, ask your dealer for Chesterfield, the only cigarette that names all its ingredients. Every day you hear more and more about an incredibly fast way to relieve the pains of headache, neuritis, and neuralgia. It's Anderson, A-N-A-C-I-N. 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One of the three is the rental agent, the second a man on crutches, the third his wife, and she speaks the words that lead to murder. Mr. Burkitt, you don't mean to say my husband and I can rent this lovely place for twenty five dollars a month. That's the price, Mrs. Haynes, and it's completely furnished. I'll open the door. Careful, Mr. Haynes. The floor has just been waxed. Your crutches may slide. Thanks. I'm all right. Lovely place for twenty five dollars a month, isn't it? Mr. Burkitt, are you sure that's the rent? It doesn't seem possible, does it, Tom? Mr. Burkitt, why should a place like this rent for almost nothing? From other places my wife and I looked at, this should bring at least two hundred. You're the tenth couple I've shown it to, Mr. Mrs. Haynes, but nobody would touch it. They were afraid. Afraid? Of what? A murder was committed in this cottage. A murder? I wouldn't spend a night here for ten thousand dollars myself. Anyway, that answers your question about the giveaway rent. You better let me show you something else. Well, my husband and I aren't the scary kind, are we, Tom? Besides, beggars can't be choosers. I've told you what I think about this place, Mrs. Haynes. A furnished room somewhere might be safer. Well, what do you think, Tom? You decide, Jenny. It may be unpleasant at first, but there's no reason for anyone to harm us. All right, Jenny. Here's twenty five dollars for the first month's rent, Mr. Burkitt. I wish I had you folks' courage. I'll go to my office and be right back with the receipt. You may change your minds, meanwhile. Jenny, I hope you won't be nervous living here. Murder isn't a nice thing to think about. The only thing I ever worry about is you, Tom. I want you to get well again. And this is just the place for you. I know, Jenny. And I will. Of course you will, dear. I'm simply dying to see the bedroom. I guess this is the door to it. Oh, no. It's a little hall. She fell for it like the fool she is. Hey, hey, take that gun off me. I might have known. No, no, don't shoot. We'll talk this over. Mr. Keen. While I was in the bedroom, my husband, Tom, was murdered. If only I hadn't rented that cottage for twenty five dollars. But it was so beautiful. And we were so poor. No, no, try to calm yourself, Mrs. Haynes. My partner, Mike Clancy, and I can't help you without hearing your complete story. And that we can't, ma'am. It's a strange story, you tell him. I know, Mr. Clancy. But the memory of seeing my husband dead on the floor with his crutches beside him will haunt me the rest of my life. Then your husband was a cripple, Mrs. Haynes? Oh, no, Mr. Keen. Not really a cripple. Tom was a traveling salesman for a large importing company. An early last winter he made a trip to Canada and fell on the ice. He injured his hip so badly he had to use crutches ever since. I see. He was convinced he'd be a cripple for life and never resume his job as salesman again. I tried to convince him otherwise, but just as I thought I was succeeding, his firm discharged him as physically unfit to carry on his work. Well, a cold-blooded lot for a man to be working for, ma'am. Now, let Mrs. Haynes go on, Mike. Tom's employers didn't put it just that way, Mr. Keen. They sent him a check for $300 and told him when he got better they would try to place him in an office job. I see. The money they sent added to our little savings didn't make much, Mr. Keen. We were almost at the end of it when... when we heard of a charming little cottage for rent at $25 a month. Now, where did you hear about it, Mrs. Haynes? Tom said he saw it advertised and we went out to see it. And the agent, Mr. Burkett, told you nobody would rent it because a murder had occurred there? Yes, Mr. Keen. And we were foolish enough to take it. Tom gave Mr. Burkett a month's rent and just after the real estate agent left for his office to make out a receipt, Tom, as I told you, was murdered in cold blood. Mrs. Haynes, you may be sure that Mike Clancy and I will do our best to bring your husband's killer to justice. I know you would, Mr. Keen. That's why I came to you. If you'll write the address of the cottage on this pad and Mr. Burkett's address too, Mike and I will go there immediately. Well, here we are, Mr. Keen, the white cottage. Yes, Mike. And as charming as Mrs. Haynes described it. The door's open. We'll go in, Mike. I see the way it's furnished, boss. Looks like an ad for a furniture store. But on second glance it's all old stuff and ready to fall apart. Mike, every piece of furniture here is a valuable antique imported from England. Well, I'd not give much for it. That old bookcase alone is worth several thousand dollars. Hmm, quite unusual furniture for a small cottage. Well, I guess Mrs. Haynes' husband was standing about where I am, Mr. Keen. Facing the front door when he was shot. Yes, Mike. And I imagine this door behind us leads to the bedroom hall. Listen, Mike, there's someone in the bedroom. Come on and have your gun handy. I'll go first, boss. Very well, Mike. Hold still, me buckle. Who the devil are you? My name is Keen and this is my partner, Mike Clancy. Mr. Keen, the famous investigator? Well, that's different. Glad to meet you. My name is Orville Burkett. The man who rented this cottage to the murdered Tom Haynes? Yes, Mr. Keen. And nobody can say I didn't warn him not to rent it. I told him and his wife it was a murder house. I wouldn't spend a night here for ten thousand dollars. I notice you've moved the bed into the middle of the room and everything else as well. May I ask what you're looking for? A pair of crutches, Mr. Keen. A pair of crutches? When Mr. Haynes and his wife rented the place, he was on crutches. When the police came after he was murdered, the crutches were gone. They couldn't find him, I thought I might. Boss, Mrs. Haynes didn't tell us about the crutches being gone. She probably forgot to make her sorrow and shock. Mr. Keen, I take it Mrs. Haynes has engaged you to get herself in the clear. Mrs. Haynes asked me to find her husband's killer. If that's what you mean, Mr. Burkett? Not at all. She was alone in the house with her husband when he was shot to death. Personally, I'm inclined to go to the police and suggest they arrest her for the murder. Well, listen to that, boss. He's trying to get himself off the spot. Mr. Clancy, are you suspecting me of murdering a man I'd never seen before and whom I warned not to rent this cottage? Well, if you ask me, you could have doubled back when you went for the rent receipt and murdered Mrs. Haynes's husband while she was in this bedroom. That's true, Mr. Clancy, but I didn't. I just a moment, Mike. No doubt Mr. Burkett can explain why we find him here in what seems to be suspicious circumstances. I came here to meet the owner of the cottage, Mrs. Herbert Lorraine. Mrs. Herbert Lorraine? The wealthy Dowager. Yes, Mr. Keen, and she'll return here any minute. She went out for a sandwich and tea. I took advantage of her absence to look for the missing crutches. I see. And that gives me an idea that may give you a clue to Mr. Haynes' murder. It does, Mr. Burkett. The other person murdered in this house was Mrs. Lorraine's husband and under the same circumstances. Mrs. Lorraine's husband was murdered here? Yes, Mr. Keen. That's why she gave me orders after Mr. Lorraine's death to rent the place for anything I could get. That explains a great deal. And also presents a strange coincidence. And that it does, Mr. Keen, sir. But I'm wondering, Mr. Burkett. Yes, Mr. Clancy. Are you going to tell us Mr. Lorraine was crippled like Mr. Haynes was? And that his crutches were missing too following his murder? No, Mr. Clancy. But the odd thing is that Mr. Lorraine had a deep sympathy for anyone who was crippled. He gave generously to cripples. A large number called on him here and he never turned one away. Pretty story, that. It may be true, Mike. Mr. Burkett. Mr. Burkett. That's Mrs. Lorraine now. Oh, I didn't know anyone was with you. Mrs. Lorraine, this gentleman is Mr. Keen, the famous investigator. How do you do, Mr. Keen? How do you do, Mrs. Lorraine? This is my partner, Mike Clancy. Pleased to meet you. I'm glad somebody called on you to solve this dreadful murder in my cottage, Mr. Keen. I'm making the investigation in behalf of Mrs. Haynes, the murdered man's widow. That poor woman. I understand how she must feel. Mr. Burkett told me your own husband met his death here in much the same way. A year ago, Mr. Keen. I suppose Mr. Burkett told you that the Mr. Haynes who rented this cottage and was murdered was a former employee of my husband's old firm, the Lorraine Import Company. I couldn't have told Mr. Keen that, Mrs. Lorraine, because you didn't tell me. It's the first I ever heard of it. Don't you remember, Mr. Burkett? I told you when you informed me of the murder, and you said it was a mere coincidence. Mrs. Lorraine, with all respect, I think your memory is failing. Mrs. Lorraine, I'd like to speak to you privately. Will you step into the hall with me? Surely, Mr. Keen. Mrs. Lorraine, it's very puzzling. Why, Mr. Burkett, failed to tell me the murdered man was a former employee of your husband's company. Mr. Keen, I know I told him. My husband often spoke of a Mr. Haynes. He was a traveling salesman for the company. You recall how long ago he was discharged from his job because he was crippled? Because he was crippled? Why, no. But I scarcely could know on my husband's death his business was sold, the present owner is named Ambrose Carter, I believe. Mr. Ambrose Carter? I've scribbled that name down. From what I hear, Mr. Carter is quite a different man from what my husband was. Mr. Burkett, the rental agent says your deceased husband had a warm spot in his heart for anyone who was crippled, and that a number of cripples came here and he gave them money. Is that true? Yes, Mr. Keen. My husband used this cottage as a sort of hideaway, but they found him many on crutches. Is it true that you commissioned Mr. Burkett to rent this cottage for the small sum of $25 a month? Yes, Mr. Keen, and completely furnished. My husband was murdered here. I understand. Thank you, Mrs. Lorraine. Mr. Keen, about that poor Mrs. Haynes whose husband was murdered here, too, is she in good financial circumstances? I'd like to help her. You're a good-hearted woman, Mrs. Lorraine. I realize from tragic experience how she feels. I hope to see you again. Mike, would you come here, please? Sure, Mr. Keen. I believe Mrs. Lorraine has given me the clue to solve the murder in this cottage. She has? We will now visit the present owner of the Lorraine importing company, Mr. Ambrose Carter. Yes, Mr. Keen. And on the way, I'll phone the police. It's possible, Mr. Burkett, that the real estate man is connected with the murder. Mr. Keen will return in just a moment in the rented cottage murder case. But first, here's something of interest to you. For breathless moments. For your breathless moments. Chew dentine. The gum with breath-taking flavor. Dentine tastes so good. Dentine freshens your breath. Dentine helps keep your teeth sparkling clean and white. Dentine, the gum with breath-taking flavor. Before you go out and always after eating, drinking, smoking, refresh your breath with dentine. You'll love dentine chewing gum. For dentine has a wonderful, tingling, nippy flavor that lingers on and on. It's delicious. And remember, dentine helps keep your teeth white, too. Keep dentine handy. You'll enjoy refreshing your breath when you chew dentine. So for breathless moments. For your breathless moments. Chew dentine. The gum with breath-taking flavor. Now back to Mr. Keen and the rented cottage murder case. Mr. Keen and his partner, Mike Clancy, are investigating the murder of Tom Haynes, a young salesman crippled and on crutches who was shot to death seemingly without motive in a charming white cottage. He and his wife Jenny had just rented for the unbelievable sum of $25 a month. Mr. Keen has questioned Orville Burkett, rental agent, who was suspiciously near at the time of the murder. Also the wealthy owner, Mrs. Lorraine, who offered the cottage at such low rent because her own husband was murdered there a year ago. Now Mr. Keen and Mike are approaching the office of the Lorraine Import Company, where the murdered Tom Haynes had worked and which Mrs. Lorraine's husband had owned. He's come to see the new owner, Ambrose Carter, and we hear Mr. Keen saying, Here's the Lorraine Import Company's office, Mike. And the sign on the door says, Ambrose Carter, President, Mr. Keen. Do you gentlemen wish to see someone? Yes, Mr. Ambrose Carter, if he's in. I'm Ambrose Carter. My name is Keen, and this is Mike Clancy, my partner. Mr. Keen, the private investigator? I'm investigating the murder of Tom Haynes. I understand he was employed by you, Mr. Carter. Tom Haynes worked here until six months ago. I'm surprised to hear he was murdered. You hadn't heard then? No, Mr. Keen. Where was he murdered? At Lorraine's cottage, a few minutes after he had rented it. Does that ring any bells for you, Mr. Carter? None, Mr. Clancy. I'm sorry. But I'm afraid I have no information for you. You're in the importing business. May I ask what you import? A little of everything, Mr. Keen, from all corners of the world. I notice a case filled with surgical supplies in the next room. Even a display of crutches. Do you import them, Mr. Carter? Yes. Those came from France. But since I took over the business from Mr. Lorraine's estate, we're discontinuing that line. Tom Haynes was on crutches when he was murdered, Mr. Carter. Was he really? I didn't know he used crutches. I'm informed you discharged him because he was a cripple. See, he couldn't continue his work as a traveling salesman. Then you were misinformed, Mr. Keen. Who told you that? The murdered man's widow, Jenny Haynes, told me. That's wrong. Her husband quit his job here. Mr. Carter, may Mike Clancy and I look at one of those crutches in the case? You certainly may not. The case is locked. Well, I'll open it up and get a pair out anyway, Mr. Keen. I never mind, Mike. We'll bid Mr. Carter goodbye now. Glad to have met you, Mr. Keen. I hope I didn't give you any wrong impressions. I understand. Good day. Mr. Keen, sir, why are we leaving so fast? He's sufficiently alarmed as it is, Mike. My request to look at the crutches in that case shocked him. Oh, yes, it did. And I picked this card off the floor. Why, it's Mr. Carter's own card. Expressing sympathy at the death of the murdered man. Undoubtedly, it was to be sent with a floral offering to Tom Haynes' funeral. Well, Carter said he didn't know Mr. Haynes was dead, boss. The sinister connection between Carter's office, Mrs. Lorraine's cottage, the agent, Orville Burkett, who rented it to the murdered men, and the crutches. Yes, boss. I'm going to ask Lieutenant Hale of the police to confiscate a pair as murder evidence. Well, what's the next move, Mr. Keen? We'll return to the office immediately, Mike, and put certain things into operation. Mr. Keen, sir, a lot of water has gone over the dam. Considering we've been back here in the office under an hour. So it has, Mike. And this record I just found in our files should end the case. I know exactly who our killer is. Hello, Mr. Keen speaking. Yes, Lieutenant Hale. You have the crutches from Mr. Carter's office and are sending them over. Good. I suggest then that you arrest all the suspects I named to you and send them to the murder cottage. Yes, I'll deliver the murderer to the police there. Good-bye. Shall I get the car now, Mr. Keen? Somebody's at the door, Mike. Mr. Keen, Mr. Clancy. Mrs. Haynes, what happened? Mr. Burkitt, the rental agent found out where I lived. He threatened to kill me if I said anything to you about poor Tom's crutches. Sense preservous. Then Ambrose Carter phoned me to stay away from that cottage at the price of my life. I'm scared to death. Mike Clancy and I will protect you, Mrs. Haynes. There's nothing to fear now. And when I got to our room, it had been ransacked. Even parts of the paper torn off the wall. I'm not surprised, Mrs. Haynes. Now Mike and I will take you with us to the death cottage. Hurry, Mike, to the car. Ring the doorbell, will you, Mike? Don't be frightened, Mrs. Haynes. Oh, Mr. Keen, I'm so relieved it's you. The cottage is surrounded by policemen. Mr. Burkitt and Ambrose Carter are in the bedroom. The police arrested them both. Oh, Mrs. Lorraine, this is Mrs. Haynes, the murdered Tom Haynes widow. Thanks for offering to help me, Mrs. Lorraine. My husband was murdered here, too, Mrs. Haynes. Mr. Keen, I can't understand, but Mr. Burkitt advised me to move all the furniture out of the cottage. He says you'll put it in storage. Mrs. Lorraine, you say Mr. Burkitt and Ambrose Carter are in the bedroom? Yes, Mr. Keen. I'll open the door. Is this your doing, Keen, having me arrested? Yes, Mr. Burkitt. But first, tell me why you attempted to have Mrs. Lorraine move the furniture out of here. Because I think the cottage would be easier to rent that way, considering the circumstances. I see. Now, tell me, why did you threaten to kill Mrs. Haynes if she spoke to me about her murdered husband's crutches? Why, Mr. Keen? Yes, Mr. Carter. Are those crutches Mr. Clancy is carrying? The ones you told me Tom Haynes had when he was murdered? No, Mr. Carter. There a pair the police took from the display case in your office. What's that? The supporting hand bar unscrews and supplies a clever way to conceal narcotics. There's no dope in those crutches, Mr. Keen. I said they furnish a good hiding place. That was all. Mr. Carter, why did you phone Mrs. Haynes to stay away from this cottage in peril of her life? I was afraid this rental agent Burkitt would murder her like he murdered her husband. Let me at Carter, I'll tear him apart. Oh, still Burkitt, or I'll drill you. Mr. Burkitt, the police found the murdered men's crutches in the attic of your house. They are a duplicate of the dope-carrying ones taken from Mr. Carter's office. Why, I don't know how they got there. I know how, Mr. Burkitt. How, Mr. Keen? Mrs. Lorraine put them there after she murdered Tom Haynes. The nice lady who offered to help me? Tom's murderer? Yes, Mrs. Haynes. Try to prove it, Keen. In the rush, Mrs. Lorraine, you dropped a monogrammed handkerchief beside the crutches in Mr. Burkitt's house next door. And here's your criminal record, Mrs. Herbert Lorraine. What? You were in the dope racket before you married Herbert Lorraine. He was a trusting husband, so you conceived the plan of making capital of his sympathy for cripples by designing this clever type of crutch to transport narcotics. Keep on dreaming, Keen. The cripples who came here came to get narcotics from you as your peddlers. They weren't cripples. And when your husband discovered what you were, you murdered him in this cottage. The soft fool turned on me, was going to get the police. I had to murder him, Keen. You will be tried and convicted for the murder of your husband and the murder of Tom Haynes. Take her out to the police, Mike. Come along, Mrs. Lorraine. One thing you didn't figure, Keen, was why I offered to rent this cottage for twenty-five dollars a month. Oh, yes. The game was for your accomplice in the dope racket to offer it for twenty-five dollars and then terrorize prospective tenants not to take it. In that way, you could retain it to conceal a king's ransom in dope you had hidden in the furniture here. I mean, you are her accomplice, Orville Burkitt. That's right, Keen. I'd rather take the rap for dope than for murder. Mr. Keen. Yes, Mrs. Haynes? You say Mrs. Lorraine murdered my husband, Tom. Well, why? Why? Why would she want to kill him? It may help you bear your sorrow, Mrs. Haynes. To know your husband was part of a dope ring, too. No. Tom was? He knew Mrs. Lorraine kept hundreds of thousands of dollars in narcotics concealed in her costly furniture here. That's why he rented the cottage. That's why he couldn't be frightened by the murder story. And that's why Mrs. Lorraine murdered him. Oh, oh, Mr. Keen. 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Dialogue by Frank Hummert, directed by Richard Leonard. Phillip Clark plays Mr. Keen, your announcer Jack Costello. Remember, Mr. Keen is on the air at this same time, every Thursday at 8.30 Eastern Standard Time. Don't miss Mr. Keen next Thursday, when the kindly old tracer turns to the Mother's Plea Murder Key. Tonight here, report on the Washington scene on NBC.