 Blair of the Mounties, a story of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. We present the tenth episode in Blair of the Mounties, being part one of the Cherry Hill mystery. As our story opens, we still find Inspector Blair on long leave in England. After a month in Paris and northern France, Blair has just returned to spend the closing weeks of his leave with his sister, Peggy Markham, wife of Colonel Markham, chief of the County Police of West Hamptonshire. Again, the peaceful atmosphere of the quiet old city of Barmenster is shattered by a murder mystery. And again, Inspector Blair finds himself drawn into the hunt for the criminal. Our scene opens in the breakfast room in Ashley Cottage, where we find Mrs. Markham and Inspector Blair just sitting down to breakfast. Coffee, Jimmy? Thanks. You came in very quietly last night. Well, you see, it was pretty late and I didn't want to wake the whole household. Oh, how silly. But I've got such lots to tell you. Of course, you heard about the murder. Murder? What? Another murder? Yes, of course. Didn't you see it in the papers? Being in the detective business, I never read them, Peggy. Well, how funny. That accounts for it. So you haven't heard the dear old Doctor Slade was murdered by his son a few days after you left. Doctor Slade? You mean the nice old chap owns Cherry Hill, where Markham and I went fishing? Yes, that's the one. I say. How did it happen? I will tell you, Doctor Slade was shot one evening by Arthur Slade, his son. It happened in the grounds of Cherry Hill. It was all very terrible. Oh, that's strange. Two murders, one after another in sleepy old barn instead. Did they convict this Slade boy? Oh, yes. The trial was very short. They're going to hang him next week and such a nice boy, too. Yes. That is rather awful, I must say. Hello, you two. Hello, Markham. Have a good time in France, Jimmy. Oh, that's sad. How's Paris? I've been fishing too many crowds, so I only stayed two days. Then I hired a little Citroën car and wandered up into Brittany to Nantes and Sommelot. Wait a minute. Did you call on the Ellisons in Paris? Certainly. Put on my best sunny clothes, delivered your letter and felt fully miserable. Too many girls in that family. Oh, how can you say that, Jimmy? Friedrich Ellison is the most stunning girl I know, and you only stayed two days. Say, Markham, you're a shameless little matchmaker. And you're just an obstinate old bachelor. Well, Markham, another murder, eh? Nice of you to have it while I was away. If I'd been here, you'd probably have dragged me in again. Of course. As a matter of fact, I may do it still. What? But it's all teamed up, isn't it? Well, up till last night I thought it was all over, except the hanging of that poor fellow in the county jail. This morning I'm not so sure. What do you mean? Well, things have been turning up that seem to throw doubt on the evidence. And now the public prosecutors ordered a further police inquiry. Once an outside opinion. That, of course, means cut and yard. Yes, that's right. Worst luck. Who's coming down? Chief Inspector Kerrigan. Oh, he's a big shot, isn't he? Yes, so I believe. Anyhow, if he turns up something and upsets our case, it'll be a black eye for Coulter and me. I see. Any stay of execution? No, no, all the haven't done that. Young Slade will hang Thursday week, unless we turn up something very definite. What have you got so far? Hardly anything. But Dr. Rutherford is coming over for a chat. He's coming through the shrubbery now. Oh, all right, Peggy. You'd better clear out, my dear. Yes, I'm going. What about tennis, Jimmy? You don't want to stay and talk about this horrible murder, do you? Of course he does. What do you say, Jimmy? Oh, Lord, look here, Marco. This is positively the last of your murders I'll have anything to do with. All right, Jimmy. Just one more little murder case won't hurt you. Ah, hello. Good morning, Doctor. You know Blair, I think. Yes, good morning, Inspector. Sit down, Doctor. Blair's going to give us a hand again. I want to talk over this Slade business. Any ideas? Not exactly ideas, but this query on evidence hits my department. In what way? Really, it's a bit technical. They've got the X-rays showing the path of the bullet. The experts say that there's something wrong with it. Oh, in what way? They say that it doesn't look like the path of a bullet at all. Why, how ridiculous. Well, I'm afraid they're right. Hold on, Doctor. What's wrong with it? Well, you see a bullet, however high its speed, never goes quite straight through a human body. Yes, I heard that. It has a sort of a spiral course due to the spin of the bullet. But we found the bullet, and it was clear that it had gone through the body. Yes, so it had. They claimed the bullet was not fired from any rifle. It what? But how could it have gone through the body if it wasn't fired from a rifle? Well, that's a job for a detective. Do you think, Blair? Really, I'm beginning to get quite interested. What grounds did they convict this young slave on? Well, let's go over the case. Doctor Slade was shot while standing on the bank of a little stream near the house. What was he doing? Fishing. Well, probably just trying cast with a fly rod. I see. Where was this boy who was supposed to have shot him? In the gun room in the house. He fired through the window, 130 feet away. What is the rifle? A Mannlicher special caliber. About 0.25, I should say. Young Slade was an expert shot. Any motive? Plenty. Arthur Slade was heir to the old man's property. It's a big fortune. He quarreled with his father about a girl he wanted to marry. Old Slade threatened to cut him off without a penny. I see. And there's no trace of anyone else near the scene of the crime? Not a trace. The case looked absolutely certain against young Slade. But if this query is sustained, we're going to look pretty foolish. Yes, unless you turn up another killer. Oh, but that's absurd. Oh, hello. Wonder what's happened now? What is it, Marco? Oh, here's your good friend, Coulter. He's a deuce of a hurry. Inspector Coulter's here. Says he must see you, Marco. Oh, yes. All right. Come in, Coulter. Thank you, sir. Coulter, you always seem to be in a devil of a hurry when you come here. Morning, Inspector. Glad to see you're back. Good job you're here. We're having a fine old mess again. Oh, I don't know. These post trial inquiries are always a nuisance. Oh, it ain't that. Colonel Markham, sir. There's been another murder. Good heaven. Look here, Marco. This is getting beyond a joke. I'll have to write to the Times. No joke about this, Inspector. Constable Burridge was shot at Cherry Hill yesterday. Cherry Hill? You mean the same place as this other murder? That's it, sir. Well, what was he doing at Cherry Hill? On duty? No, sir. He went out there on his own. Well, it's a long story. Everything seems to be going wrong lately. There was that prize bulldog of mine. Well, he had to go and die too the other day. I don't know what things are coming to. This makes things more confusing than ever. Oh, I wouldn't say that, Marco. It lets young Slade out, I imagine. In what way? Well, it proves there's another mysterious murderer hanging round Cherry Hill. Yes, that's true. Let's see, Coulter. Young Burridge was a friend of your family, wasn't he? Yes, sir. My daughter Bessie and him was engaged. She's awful cut up about it. Yes, yes, of course. Too bad, Coulter. But how did it happen? How do you know he was murdered? He seems plain enough. Joe went up to Cherry Hill last night to look around. He had a theory that young Mr. Arthur never killed his father. Anyhow, he... well, he didn't come back last night. Who found him? Well, McLean and me found him in the bushes at Cherry Hill. Oh, about six o'clock this morning. He'd been shot through the back. Through the back, you say? What sort of a wound? Looks like a bullet wound, doctor. Just one wound and the bullet must be still in the body. Funny. Colonel, I'd like to go down at once and look at the body. All right, go ahead, doctor. Now, Coulter, what next? Well, I brought my daughter Bessie with me, sir, seeing as she talked to young Joe Burridge. Well, a lot about this case. I thought she might have something to tell us. Good idea. Bring her in. All right. All right, Bessie. This is my daughter, gentlemen. Good morning. Good morning, Bessie. Now, Bessie, Inspector Blair here is helping us on this here case. I want you to tell him all as Joe said. Yes, sir. Just a minute, Bessie. I understand that Joe believed young Slade was innocent. That's right, sir. Did he suspect anyone else? I don't know, sir. Ah, that doesn't help much. You see, he hadn't got that far, sir. I see. What made him think young Slade was innocent of the murder? Can you explain it to us? I'll try to, sir. When Mr. Slade was on the stand at the trial, he said he was asleep in the gun room when the thing happened. He woke up suddenly and found the rifle lying across the couch. It was the shot that woke him, and that's what he said. He couldn't have done it in his sleep. If he didn't fire the shot, who did? I don't know, sir. But the first one to run into the gun room was Mr. Jarvis. He found Mr. Slade holding the gun. Who is Jarvis? Oh, he's the secretary to Professor Craig, the gentleman that lives next door. And what was he doing at Dr. Slade's house? He was doing some work in the library. That's next to the gun room. And who is Professor Craig? Well, sir, he was a close friend of old Dr. Slade. And oh, he's a very nice gentleman, sir. He gives a lot of money away in charge. I see. But let's get back to this man, Jarvis, who was in the next room. Surely his presence was suspicious. Didn't they bring that up at the trial, Col Dev? Well, yes, of course. But you see, well, he had a good alibi. He came out of the library door into the hall after the shot was heard. One of the maids saw him run into the gun room. But they all heard the shot before then. So that apparently clears Jarvis? No, it doesn't. Why? What do you mean? Joe says there was another door into the gun room from the library. This Jarvis could have got through that without being seen. And get back again after shooting Dr. Slade. But that door was locked. I wouldn't be too sure. They lost the key a few days before. Joe thinks that this Mr. Jarvis got it. Well, didn't that come out of the trial? Well, they never said a word about it. Oh, it looks like a bad slip, that, Col Dev. Yes. This objection of the experts in London would upset the case against Jarvis, too. Yes, that's right. It's all very puzzling. But the point about Jarvis is worth looking into. And what about this Professor Craig? Could he have had anything to do with it? Oh, nothing like that, sir. He's an armless old bloke in very near sighted, wears blue glasses. He wouldn't dare to fly. But this idea that Joe's is worth looking into looks like he got onto something. Yes, and that's why they killed him. All right, all right, Betty. You'd better run along now, and thanks for your help, sir, Betty. Thank you, sir. Hello. That's the police lane. See what it is, will you, Colter? Oh, yes, sir. Yes, sir. You know? Who? Oh, yes, Dr. Rutherford, sir. Yes. Yes, sir. What? You didn't find no bullet? Well, bless my soul. Right. Yes, yes, yes. I'll tell you. What is it, Colter? Is Betty gone? Yes. Yes, she's gone. What did the doctor say? Well, sir, it's about the second murder. Young Joe Birridge. The doctor says there's a wound clear into the heart, but there's no bullet in the body. What? A bullet wound that didn't go right through the body, and yet there's no bullet. That's it, sir, but that's preposterous. Hold on, Marco. It just means we've got to think of a weapon that could be fired from a distance, something that could be pulled out of the wound and leave it tracked like a bullet. But there's no such thing. It's impossible. I think it's very simple. It could only be one thing. Hmm, must have been a very unusual weapon. No, perhaps, but it's one of the oldest and best-known weapons in the world. You have heard Episode 10 in the dramatic series Blair of the Mountains. Tune in for the next episode and learn what actually happened at Cherry Hill.