
Case Closed begins with WHItehall-1212 this week. We'll hear, The Case Of William George Greenly, from May 4, 1952. (29:45) Then, Crime Classics brings us their story from February 17, 1954, titled, Jean-Baptiste Troppman, Killer Of Many. https://traffic.libsyn.com/forcedn/e55e1c7a-e213-4a20-8701-21862bdf1f8a/CaseClosed1003.mp3 Download CaseClosed1003 | Subscribe | Spotify | Support Case Closed Your donation of any amount keeps Case Closed coming every week. [...]
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Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
This is Case Closed Crime stories from the golden age of Radio.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Whitehall 12. 1212.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
This is scotland yard.
Announcer / Narrator
For the first time in history, Scotland Yard opens its official files to bring you the true stories of some of its most baffling cases.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
These are the true stories, the plain, unvarnished facts just as they occurred, reenacted for you by an all British cast. Only the names of the participants have, for obvious reasons, been changed. The stories are presented with the full cooperation of Scotland Yard.
Announcer / Narrator
Research on Whitehall 12 is compiled through arrangement with Percy Hoskins, Chief crime Reporter of the London Daily Express. The stories for radio are written and directed by Willis Cooper. Chief Superintendent John Davidson is the curator of the famous Black Museum of Scotland Yard. He will brief you on today's case from the official files of Scotland Yard. Number 899. Mr. 952.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Good afternoon.
Chief Superintendent John Davidson
If you're a murderer by trade, I would suggest that there is no surer way to hasten the end of your career than to select a policeman as your victim. Now, this thing is the running board
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
of a motor car.
Chief Superintendent John Davidson
It was concerned in the brutal death by violence of a police constable. Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett of Scotland Yard knows more about this case than any other person.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
I think that's true, John. Although there were two other men who knew more about it than I.
Chief Superintendent John Davidson
But they're not living.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
No, they're not. Comparatively few men survive hanging. The Chief Constable of Essex telephoned the CID from Romford at 95 on the morning of Tuesday, September 27, asking that officers be sent to Stapleford Abbotts, a village halfway between Romford and Ongar on the London Chelmsford Road. I was first on the Chief Inspector's rotor, so I was assigned to the case, accompanied by Detective Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise. I went at once to Stapleford Abbotts, which is about four miles outside the limits of the Metropolitan Police area. I was shown the body of Police Constable William George Greenlee, who had been stationed there and which had been found alongside the road a few miles from the village. At 6:30 that morning, 27th, the constable explained to Wise and me what had happened.
Constable William George Greenlee
We know it happened sometime after 1.30am, Chief Inspector, because I met him at a conference point at that time.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Where, Constable?
Constable William George Greenlee
Near Grove House, on the road to Ongar. About 600 yards from where the body was found, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Go on.
Constable William George Greenlee
He had been shot four times, twice through the aid.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
And these other two? That's.
Constable William George Greenlee
Yes, sir. They shot the poor chaps square in each eye.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Horrible.
Constable William George Greenlee
I hope they drown in their own Blood, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
At least they'll hang.
Constable William George Greenlee
Bill Greenlee and I was kids together, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
They'll hang.
Constable William George Greenlee
He had his pencil in his hand, sir. His notebook was lying on the road near him. It evidently stopped a car and was talking to them.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Marks on the road.
Constable William George Greenlee
I'll show you, sir. It isn't far. I'd rather like to get out of here.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Wise and I followed the constable along the road to a spot where it had been cut through a small hill. The banks on either side at the edge of the road, shoulders were about six feet high.
Constable William George Greenlee
That's the place, sir. Here's where they found him, sir, where the grass is pressed down.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Little blood here.
Constable William George Greenlee
Not as much as one would expect, sir. Over there on the other side, you see, there's quite a blood stain on the grass. We think he was first shot there. And then he dragged himself across the road and shot his eyes open. This side.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Yeah. There was a motor car here, all right.
Constable William George Greenlee
Yes, sir, we saw that.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Where's my sergeant? Sergeant Wise?
Constable William George Greenlee
Down the road a bit, sir.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Back there.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Oh, yes. Why are you looking at Sergeant?
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Come down here, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Come along. What?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
That car was going pretty fast. See here?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Skidded off the road, isn't it, when
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
he flagged it down, no doubt.
Constable William George Greenlee
See it skidded through the grass on this side. Tire marks where it stopped, I told.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
London, wasn't it?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
No doubt about that, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
From the marks, was there anything written in Constable Greenlee's notebook that would give us any idea?
Constable William George Greenlee
Nothing, sir. After the notation about meeting me at Grove House at 1.30.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Much traffic through here, Constable?
Constable William George Greenlee
Not much, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
This chap was certainly going pretty fast,
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
especially on a twisty road like this one, I'd say.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Many fast drivers around here?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
No, sir. None I know of.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Stranger than probably.
Constable William George Greenlee
Except he must have known these twisty roads pretty well, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Which puts us right back where we started, doesn't it?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
He had a good reason for wanting to.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What'd you say, Wyatt?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
I said either that, sir, or he had a good reason for wanting to get back to London in a great hurry.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Now, why would a stranger take the chance of breaking his neck by driving this kind of a road at 40 miles an hour? He's going at least that fast along here by the tire marks.
Constable William George Greenlee
And why should he murder a policeman who stopped him?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What do you think, Sergeant Wise?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
What we need to look for is some crook running away from something, running back to London to hide.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Pretty shrewd guess, Wise.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
I think so myself, sir. But what was he running from?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Well, I wonder.
Constable William George Greenlee
If that was a stolen car he was running away with.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Sir, At the tiny police station back in Stapleford Abbotts. I asked to have someone remove the bullets from the body of Constable Greenlee. A local surgeon. Volunteers do it for us for the usual fee provided by the Home Office. After some difficulty I was put through to Whitehall 12 in London. I asked for Inspector Bailey.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Inspector Bailey speaking.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Hello, Pat Tabsett here.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
What are you up to, Quentin?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Need to know something, old boy. I've gotten reports of a car stolen last night. In this part of the country.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
What part of the country are you in?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Oh, Stapleford Abbots, Essex. I'm sorry, I have to look it up.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Where shall I call you?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Well, I'm at the police station in Stapleford Abbots. Ring me back as soon as you can, will you please?
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Right. Ten minutes.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Thank you.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Bye.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Well, what do you think, Wise?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Oh, it isn't a bad guess, sir. We'll see. By the way, I. I had a look at those powder stains on the face of the dead chap. Oh, Had a smell too. They're from black powder. Old fashioned black powder, not modern nitrocellulose. That'll be something else to check on if we do find anybody. If he has a gun that shoots black powder cartridges.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Bye.
Constable William George Greenlee
Excuse me, sir.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
There's a telephone call for you, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Who is it? Consul London, sir.
Constable William George Greenlee
You can take it on that same
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
phone you were using, sir. Thanks. Don't go away. Chief Inspector. Taps it here.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
It's Bailey here, Chief Inspector. You used second sight or something up there?
Chief Superintendent John Davidson
What?
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
First item on my list of stolen cars for last night is a four seater Morris county touring car, painted blue, index mark TW6120. Stolen at about 2:30am from the garage. Dr. Kelham Haggerty of Billareke. Guess you don't know the names. 12 miles east of where you are.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Just a second. Blue Morris Cowley, four seater TW6130.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
No, 6120.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Right. TW6120. Dr. Ken Elm Haggerty, Billericki. About 2.30am thanks old boy. Do as much for you one day.
Monsieur Kank
Bye.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Well, that might be our car, gentlemen.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
All we have to do now is find it, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
If it is, we'll find it. Wise.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
I hope so.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Now look wise. This car was taken from billericki at about 2:30am What I want you to do is to get around the countryside between here and Billy Ricky and talk to people.
Thomas Hyland
Yes, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
I want you to find out if any of the people around Here happen to hear a car driving at high speed sometime between 2:30 when it was stolen and 6:30 when they found the constable's body.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Yes, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
We'll accomplish two things, you see, A, whether that's the car we want and B, by plotting on a map when and where it was heard, its probable destination. You see? Right. Your answer, you see?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Most certainly.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
You said there's not much traffic in these parts, Council.
Constable William George Greenlee
There isn't, sir. Somebody will be sure to avert it.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Well, let's get cracking then. What?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Where will you be?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
I'll be back at the Yard. I'm going to check up on known motorcar thieves. I'll be in touch with you. Good luck, boys.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Thank you, sir. Come on, Constable.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
I returned to my office at Scotland Yard. Before setting in motion our machinery for checking the whereabouts of known criminals who were at liberty. I dispatched Emmons Carlson, an expert on motorcar tires, the staple for the Abbotts, to see if he could identify the tire prince. The motor car left on the road. It hardly left London. And I had a telephone call from Sergeant Wise.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
We've already had some good luck, sir. A farmer four miles this side of Bellariki heard a car traveling at high speed at 2:40 in the morning. And a widow a mile and a half further along heard it, she thinks at 2.45 or thereabouts. She says it sounded like a Morris Cowley. Like her own car, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Better and better, I thought. A little later, reports began coming into me on the known criminals who had been checked in London. Fourteen had already produced alibis. One, a smash and grab artist who had dabbled in motor cars. A chap named Whitey Wogan was having difficulty proving his research. Went on. Information on the stolen Morris Cowley, identification number TW6120, was given. General circulation of no results. Three reports the next day from Sergeant Wise.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
One from a retired colonel of the Cherubim, sir, five miles east of Onga heard a car at 3:15am One from an apothecary at Onga five minutes later. One from two men returning from a British Legion meeting at about 3:30 say they were almost run down by a blue Morris cowley a few miles south of Onga. They didn't see the number.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
26 more people with criminal records were checked. All had alibis. Whitey Wogan still refused to talk. Emmons Carlson reported him from Stapleford Abbots.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Here it is on the chart. I made these photographs on the spot you see. Pretty blurred. They are so. But you can identify them now. Here on the chart. Type B1 over 32 or 1 over 23 if you like. 4 parallel lines around the circumference of the tyre. Diagonal lines at the edges of the tyre. Short diagonals. The other direction in the center. Oblique Paloletograms you might say. Can't be anything but a Dunlop Fortuna tyre.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Does that do us any good, Carlson?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
I telephone Dr. Kennel Haggerty, sir, at Billericki. The stolen car was equipped with Dunlop Fortuners.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
No doubt now that that was the murder car. Another report from Sergeant Wise placed the car five miles north of where the constable was murdered at 3:30am, still headed south. I ticked off the reports on a map of the area. It was a circuitous route but there was no doubt of it. The car was headed for London. Then the trail was lost. A report from Percy Young in the ballistics laboratory about those bullets taken from
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
the body of the constable who was shot near Stapleford Abbotts. Chief Inspector?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Yes, Bersey? What did you find out?
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
They're all from a Webley.38 caliber revolver. Seems to me, I should say somewhat obsolete manufacture, but I'm not sure of that.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
You could identify the particular gun they were fired from if we got hold of it, could you Percy?
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Of course. Bench it in.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Unfortunately I haven't got it, Percy. Unfortunately I haven't got anything. Unfortunately, all I've got is the knowledge of the car the murderer rode in and the fact that the car's probably somewhere in London. With the murderer, I hope. Unfortunately I have no idea who he is yet. But we'll find out. You can't murder a policeman and get away with it. I'll bring you the gun sooner or later. Sergeant Wise came in.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Good afternoon, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Hello, Wise.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Got some news for you.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Good. What?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
They found the car.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
They have? Why didn't they tell me?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Your telephone was busy, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Ah, Brixton.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Been there all night apparently. They said.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Sure it's the car.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Blue Morris Carly, four seater, number TW2160MM. Fingerprint people and all are there now looking it over.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Brixton you said?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Brixton? Yes, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
That's where Whitey Wogan lives.
Monsieur Kank
Who, sir?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Car thief.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Oh.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Won't tell us where he was the night of the murder.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Shall I bring him in, sir?
Monsieur Kank
Better.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
I'll go and have a look at the car first though. His is address. See you later there.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Right.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Could be possible. I thought I drove over to Brixton in the police car. We'd see they were going over the Morris Cowley. With a fine tooth comb as I arrived. He hadn't found much, according to the sergeant in charge.
Sergeant Thackeray
Nothing very much, sir. Let's see that list, Thackeray. Drops of what appears to be blood on right hand running board, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
You've collected them all right, sir.
Sergeant Thackeray
Laboratory's got them already, sir. Bits of grass and daubs of clay on the edge of the same running board.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
We'll want that to compare with clay from the spot where the constable was murdered, Sergeant.
Sergeant Thackeray
See to it, Thackeray.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Oh, yes.
Sergeant Thackeray
Between the cushions of the front seat. This revolver cartridge, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What kind is it?
Sergeant Thackeray
Obsolete type, Sir. For a Webley.38. But the issue of this kind of black powder cartridge was discontinued in 1913, sir. I'm quite a hexpert on firearms, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Good. That's just the kind we were looking for, Sergeant.
Constable William George Greenlee
I'm very happy, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
That all? What about fingerprints?
Sergeant Thackeray
Not a sign of one so far, sir. Still looking, sir, but so far. Clean as a coldstreamer's boots, sir. And who might you be, miss?
Miss Winnie Clapsettle
My name's Miss Winnie Clapsettle, mister. And I'm here because I come with a Sergeant. So don't give me none of your back chatter or dot you one over the ear all like a dunim. Oh, don't. Don't open your fly trap to the cops, Whitey dear.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What's going on here?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Excuse me, Chief Inspector.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Oh, it's usage.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Excuse me, sir. This is Whitey Wilton.
Miss Winnie Clapsettle
Don't say your word, Whitey.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
And who are you, please, miss.
Miss Winnie Clapsettle
I'm your sweetheart on the barmaid at the Saracen's Ed Public house. And I'll thank you for none of your batchatin either, mister.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Now look here.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
She insisted on coming along, sir, when I picked up Wogan here.
Miss Winnie Clapsettle
And I'll do the talking too.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Perhaps you can tell us then, young woman, why your sweetheart is in possession of all those newspaper cuttings referring to this murder case.
Miss Winnie Clapsettle
This still Whitey Duck. He's in possession of these here blinking newspaper cuttings because he wants to find out what it is you copper's badgering him for.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
The.
Miss Winnie Clapsettle
The poor lamb and the blood stained
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
bandages I found in your room, Morgan.
Miss Winnie Clapsettle
Don't blush, Whitey dear. It happens to anyone.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What are you talking about?
Miss Winnie Clapsettle
Hold your temper, Whitey love. I'll tell you why they're there. And I'll tell you why my poor little Whitey don't want to tell you where he was while this murder was going on. It's because I hit him over the noggin with A Guinness bottle when he refused to kiss me in public. And it took two constables to drag us to the police station. And that's why.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
This true, Wogan?
Miss Winnie Clapsettle
Of course it's true. And you can prove it by looking at the police charge sheet for that last night when we was both in the clink for disturbing the peace. He never murdered no one, mister. He's just plain embarrassed
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
was true. Our only suspect had been nursing a broken crown in jail which his 13 stone sweetheart had inflicted on him. We were at the dead end. The evidence had run out. Here was the murder car. Here was the victim's blood. The forensic laboratory established that the stains were of the same blood type as Constable Greenlee's. We had a cartridge which we were certain was from the murder gun. Scotland Yard had traced everything but the murderer himself. The coroner's inquest on the body of Constable William George Greenlee returned a verdict of death at the hands of person or persons unknown. He was buried with full police honours. The bugler sounded the last post at his funeral. Because he had once been a soldier, the Home Office began paying his wife a pension. We kept on. We questioned more than 1500 persons who might. Who might conceivably have committed the murder. Our man was not among them. He was still at large. No policeman ever forgets the murder of another policeman. The months went on and Wise and I were assigned to other cases. One day, almost a year later, Wise came into my office. Hello, Wise.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Hello, Chief Inspector.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What's up?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
You ever had a hunch?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
I never had a good one. Yes, you have had though.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
I have one now.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Forget it. What's it about, Wise?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Well, I was reading in the Police Gazette about a case, a very unimportant case in Sheffield. The other day was quite interesting.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Don't be so bloody mysterious, ma'. Am. What was it?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
A lorry driver had some trouble with a reckless driver. The driver shot down a side street and disappeared. Yes, I said it was a hunt, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Go ahead. I've already got this report to get out.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Well, this lorry driver noted down the number of the car. Well, what? It was a stolen car.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Thinking about that poor blighter that has murdered the Essex constable.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
I haven't forgotten how somebody shot that poor chap's eyes out, Chief Inspector.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Neither of us.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Well, they. They picked up the driver of the stolen car and this chap told him who he bought the stolen stolen car from. Who got it from a garage man in London here named Frederick Guy Sears.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Sears? Name means nothing to me.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
It didn't to me at first, but out of habit, I expect. I looked him up a little. He has a record. He's been sent down twice.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Have the Sheffield Police picked him up?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
No, they can't find him.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Oh.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What's your hunch?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Well, he's a car thief. Apparently he was in the Royal Engineers
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
and, well, that's no crime. So was I.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Yes, but you didn't steal a.38 Webley revolver all the way, did he? So I hear, Chief Inspector. That boy in Essex was shot with a.38 caliber Webley. We still have those bullets they took out of his head.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Mm.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Then they could tell us if they came from that gun.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
If we find the gun, let's go
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
and look for it.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Well, I don't know.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
That doctor's case of instruments that was in the Morris Cowley. They were never found either.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Right.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
They might be at his garage, too.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Hasn't anybody been in that garage looking for him?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
I know the sergeant who was there. He didn't look around very carefully. I think I could get a warrant of search.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
You said the man was missing.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
I know where he is.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Where? Dartmoor Prison.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
No friend of his is being released after a three year term. He went up to welcome him out of prison.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Coming back to London today. You seem awfully anxious to find this fellow, Wise.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
I hate a cop killer, Chief Inspector.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Don't you get your search, Warren? The garage was closed, of course, but we got inside all right. I doubt anyone saw us. It was a relatively empty place. One big concrete floored room and a desk in one corner behind a wooden railing. A few tool shelves along one wall. Filing cabinets or two alongside the desk. We walked across the floor.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Not much of an office.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Let's have a look in the desk drawers.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Right. Empty.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
This one's empty, too.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
This too.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Try them all.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Doesn't he keep anything here?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Pretty careful man. Nothing incriminating for anybody to find.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
He must keep some papers here or something. What's in here, I wonder?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Cabinet. Open it.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
It's locked.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Open it.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
There. A pinch bar here on the wall. That ought to do.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Anything interesting.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Alarm clock wrenches. What do you want to hide this stuff for?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Because it locks up, I guess. Doesn't trust his friends.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Suppose so. Look. Look here.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What is it?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
One of those gadgets a doctor puts in his ears and listens to your heart with?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Stethoscope. What else?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Oh, I dropped it.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What is it?
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Two or three of them look like.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
That's what they are.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What do you mean?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
My hunch was right. These are Doctor's instruments.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
What was that doctor's name?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
The one that owned the car kennel? Haggerty.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
You got a good memory.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Oh, not so good. It's stamped right here on the handle of this lancet, or whatever it is.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Well, indeed. Now all we have to do is find that Webley revolver and somebody's going to hang.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Well, this cabinet's empty.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Wonder about those tool shelves.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
I have to look, I expect. Hope he doesn't walk in on us
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
before we speak of the devil. Oh, boy.
Constable William George Greenlee
What?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Somebody's coming.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
There's only this one door.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Get on that side. I'll take this one. Right, sir.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
See anybody?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Big husky chap coming alone? Seems to be.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
What do you want me to do, sir?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Pick up that spanner there and tap him gently on the sconce if he leaps on me.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Right, sir.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
If you have to hit him, be careful. Want to save him for the hangman?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
You know, if he's the right one.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
He isn't healed. Do till the right one comes along. Are you Frederick Guyers?
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Oh, that's only you.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
I'm Chief Inspector Tabs of the Scotland Yard and I arrest you on.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Look out. He's got a revolver.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
You.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
You. Look out. Drop that.
Sergeant Thackeray
Get off.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Get off.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Are you hurt, sir?
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Get on.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
That one did it.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
The alcove.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Doesn't seem to be, sir.
Monsieur Kank
Right.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Well, in that case, rest you on suspicion of the murder of Constable William George Wheeler.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
All right.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
I warn you that anything you say will be taken down in writing, maybe using evidence. We got the gun, Wise.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Have a look at it, sir. That's what we're looking for. A Webley.38 revolver. And unless I'm much mistaken, these are old fashioned black powder cartridges. Come along with us, Mr. Sears. There's a man that wants to see you.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
He was the man. He and an accomplice whom we found easily from the direction Sears gave us, had murdered Constable Greenlee. You wonder at the brutality of shooting out his eyes. Sears told us Why. I heard the picture of the last thing a man sees before he dies stays right on his eyeballs. I was the last thing he seen. But he didn't have any eyeballs left when I got done with him. Sears and his accomplice were tried at Old Bailey a year and a month after they'd committed the murder. They were both hanged. One at Pentonville and one at Wandsworth, same day.
Announcer / Narrator
Heard today on whitehall 12 were harvey hayes, horace bramham, lester fletcher, guy spall, winston ross, peter forrester, maurice gosfield and beulah garrick. Whitehall 12 is written and directed by willis cooper. If you were offered odds of 4
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
to 50, you think they were pretty poor, wouldn't you?
Announcer / Narrator
Well, then, just imagine how hopeless a person suffering from cerebral palsy must feel. His chances of getting any kind of treatment are exactly that.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Four out of 50, you say to yourself.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Why?
Announcer / Narrator
Why is that? Because it takes money to train the needed specialists to build and equip the necessary treatment centers to solve the mysteries of this baffling condition. Although many of the 550,000 sufferers from cerebral palsy are virtually helpless, their cause isn't helpless. No, that's where you come in. They can be helped by accurate diagnosis,
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
by accurate treatment and loving care.
Announcer / Narrator
Make it possible for them to become useful, productive citizens. They have the will.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
You can help provide the way.
Announcer / Narrator
Enlist today in this fight. Send your contributions to United Cerebral Palsy in care of your local postmaster.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Forget them not.
Announcer / Narrator
This is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company.
Thomas Hyland
Good evening. This is Crime Classics. I am Thomas Hyland with another true story of crime. Listen. Crowd swarming over a field in France. Crowd all ages. They've come to see this crowd. They've come to look. And the field they're trampling will be packed so hard that the soil cannot be plowed for two years after. Closer now to see if it were true. To see if the story were true, the story of horror about a mass grave. Victims, murder victims buried together. Closer now and finally, a man reaches a pit in the earth. Here tonight, my report to you on Jean Baptiste Tropman, killer of many crime classics.
Narrator / Announcer
A series of true crime stories taken from the records and newspapers of every land, from every time. Your Host each week, Mr. Thomas Hyland, connoisseur of crime, student of violence and teller of murders. Now, once again, Mr. Thomas Hyland.
Thomas Hyland
Adolescence is a trying time, a time when imagined sorrow is a constant companion. And loneliness and mystery and joy so great it bursts the heart. Sometimes all in a couple of hours. Youth reacts to it varyingly, mostly by writing poems, talking to the moon, rejecting, accepting, dancing, fleeing, getting caught, falling in love and generally being miserable. Well, Jean Baptiste Tropman had the more difficult time with adolescence than most. For example, on the morning of April 3, 1865, when Jean was 16 years old, he had an argument with his brother in his father's factory.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Brother, stupid.
Thomas Hyland
Brother, dog.
Monsieur Kank
Brother. Why am I cursed with such a brother as you?
Thomas Hyland
You, with a hammer against his brother's face while the factory hands watched in amazement at such a temper. Since John's brother Had only accidentally spilled a small can of oil. After which his brother never looked quite the same. And when Jean was 16 and a half years old, he was standing on the second floor landing with his father.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Father.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Stupid.
Monsieur Kank
Father.
Thomas Hyland
Dog. Father.
Monsieur Kank
Why am I cursed with such a father as you?
Thomas Hyland
And the elder Tropman was carried to a hospital where he was treated for concussion and contusions and released four days later. It should be said that after this, the elder man never got on steps with his son again. And next spring, when young Jean Baptiste was walking along the banks of the river, wondering about adolescent things in general, he came across a man. A man of 40, perhaps with a knapsack. A hiker.
Monsieur Kank
Hello.
Thomas Hyland
Hello.
Monsieur Kank
I've never seen you around here before.
Thomas Hyland
Well, I've never been in these parts.
Monsieur Kank
What do you think of our countryside?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Beautiful. Had I known before how beautiful, I
Narrator / Announcer
would not have remained city pent these years.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
But would have walked down to your countryside before.
Monsieur Kank
Are you from Paris?
Narrator / Announcer
Yes.
Monsieur Kank
How is it in Paris? Teeming.
Thomas Hyland
Dirty. This is your home? That village? These fields?
Monsieur Kank
Tell me of Paris.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
You tell me of Paris.
Monsieur Kank
Don't mimic me.
Thomas Hyland
Tell me of Paris.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Youth.
Thomas Hyland
Crazy little monkey.
Monsieur Jean
Why did you hit.
Monsieur Kank
Don't make fun.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
You need to be taught.
Thomas Hyland
And held the man's head under the water and drowned him. And let the river's swift current carry the man away. And Jean Baptiste was lucky. The man was washed away to sea and never found. Then walked home and kissed his mother and let her ruffle his hair. Then went straight away to his chemicals. He liked to mix poisons. The properties of prussic acid in particular fascinated him. He was pale complexioned, wiry. And kind of spidery in his movements. And one day he went to Paris on a mission for his father. And there he met a Monsieur Jean.
Monsieur Jean
King to the Emperor. Louis Napoleon to the Emperor. A waiter. More champagne.
Monsieur Kank
I must tell you, Monsieur Kank.
Monsieur Jean
Oh, then do tell me. What?
Monsieur Kank
What a pleasure it is to meet a man as sophisticated and as wise as you. Oh, that we have become friends through a chance meeting is fortunate to me.
Narrator / Announcer
Ah.
Monsieur Jean
You are a good lad, Jean.
Monsieur Kank
Yes.
Monsieur Jean
How old are you?
Monsieur Kank
19.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Half my age. I could be your father, Jean.
Monsieur Kank
Yes?
Monsieur Jean
Let me tell you. I have a son nearly of your years, Gustav. And he is a dolt. This is my misfortune, Jean. Because a man wishes most that his firstborn be a son and his son be a joy.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Ah.
Monsieur Jean
If my son would have been such as you, Jean, it would have been a joy.
Monsieur Kank
Monsieur?
Monsieur Jean
Yes.
Monsieur Kank
How did you become rich, monsieur?
Monsieur Jean
Hard work. Application in a small factory for brush making in Roubaix.
Monsieur Kank
You are an intelligent man.
Monsieur Jean
No, no hard work application.
Monsieur Kank
And this is what I must do to rise above my own poverty.
Monsieur Jean
Not usual. You are clever. There's a quickness about you. You have imagination. And you will be rich.
Monsieur Kank
As rich as you. Oh, richer. Monsieur. I have a plan. I have a plan, monsieur. And I wish to interest you in it.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Oh?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
What sort of plan?
Monsieur Kank
Of money. Of wealth. For myself and for you, my friend and my counselor.
Monsieur Jean
Tell me of it.
Monsieur Kank
I have already told you of money of wealth. Invest a small amount of money. The returns fabulous.
Monsieur Jean
And soon you will tell me of it.
Monsieur Kank
Soon. Aha.
Monsieur Jean
I drink again to our friendship, Jean. Lasting and good.
Thomas Hyland
Oh, yes.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
I do not like him.
Monsieur Jean
But wife good wife to me. How can you say you do not
Monsieur Kank
like such as he?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
There is something about that boy. There is an evil to him.
Monsieur Jean
Evil? A youth of 19.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Like a. A night bloom that sickened and exudes. An essence that stifles. How can you say that by speaking like this. Jean Baptiste Tropman is a youth who hugs close. Evil and more. I will tell you what. When you're not here, sometimes he questions me.
Monsieur Jean
Bright lads ask many questions.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Of the state of your affairs. How much money you have, in what form, how quickly could your bonds be negotiable. Have I insurance? Have you and the children also the value of.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Mama?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Yes, Gustav. The children are all asleep. Emile and Achille chose the left bed this evening. Alfred and Henri the right. And Marie is asleep, the first of all in the nursery. You're a fine son, Gustav.
Thomas Hyland
Gustav.
Monsieur Kank
Yes, Papa.
Monsieur Jean
Next year is your birthday and you'll be 18 years of age.
Monsieur Kank
That is true, Papa.
Monsieur Jean
Tell me, son, what do you think about Henrietta?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Tell your father what you think about Gustav. Playing games.
Monsieur Jean
Very good. What kind of games?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Sticks and balls and running and jumping high into the air.
Monsieur Jean
And what else do you think about?
Monsieur Kank
My house and my mama.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
And my brothers, my sisters.
Monsieur Jean
What about them?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Mama? Leave him alone.
Monsieur Jean
Gustav.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Yes, Papa?
Monsieur Jean
Do you ever think about the world of business? Run along, Gustav. Find a stick and a ball and jump high into the air.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Mama.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Go.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Why are you so cruel to your firstborn?
Monsieur Jean
Because I know a young man, but a year older than he, whose name
Jean Baptiste Tropman
is Jean Baptiste Tropman.
Monsieur Jean
Whose name is Jean Baptiste Tropman. Though the name may be a thorn to you. It's a name for you to remember. For this boy. This clever boy already has a scheme to make us richer as rich as kings.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
What plan?
Narrator / Announcer
I told you, you Would prattle it all about.
Monsieur Jean
Nevertheless, it is a plan. Such a plan as you never dreamed of. A magnificent conception of a plan. And by a boy barely 19 years old. Oh, would that he were my son.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Then I should not have been his mother. I.
Monsieur Jean
Oh, Jean Jean Baptiste. Welcome. This house is yours. Welcome.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
What unhappy woman bore such a monster for a son?
Thomas Hyland
The woman who bore such a monster for a son was named Madame Truckman. And she was not unhappy. She loved her son dearly and thought him a fine youth. And was sure that in time he would bring her much joy. On the other hand, Madame K. New Jean Baptist for what he was. But what she didn't know was that he would bring her her death. And the next morning.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
But where are you going?
Monsieur Jean
To the fields of panting and a place there. A chateau.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
But why?
Monsieur Jean
But the plan. The plan. The boy's plan.
Thomas Hyland
The boy's plan, which necessitated hiring a carriage and the drive out of Paris and into the countryside and into the nighttime. And the talk.
Monsieur Kank
Then the Chateau Vermeer.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Aha.
Monsieur Jean
Tell me the rest of it.
Monsieur Kank
They will be there.
Monsieur Jean
I?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Who?
Monsieur Kank
The counterfeiters.
Monsieur Jean
Counterfeiters?
Monsieur Kank
They have brought machinery and plates of such exquisite craftsmanship. And all the money we can possibly use forever. We shall make it. And we must pay them but 5,000 francs. You have brought 5,000 francs?
Narrator / Announcer
Oh, yes, yes. Oh, yes, yes.
Monsieur Kank
Drink. Drink of my wine.
Narrator / Announcer
Yes, yes. Oh, yes.
Thomas Hyland
Ah, yes.
Monsieur Kank
We'll be princes of fabulous wealth.
Thomas Hyland
What's the matter?
Monsieur Kank
I'll stop the carriage.
Monsieur Jean
Oh.
Monsieur Kank
How do you feel?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Cramp.
Monsieur Jean
Cramp.
Monsieur Kank
Come, we'll walk. It will ease the pain. Cramp.
Thomas Hyland
They walked only a short way. And then monsieur Kank fell to the ground. Jean hurried immediately back to the carriage, Obtained the shovel he had, lashed its understructure and dug a hole and put m. K In it and packed down the earth. If monsieur Kank wasn't dead when he fell, he was.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Sa.
Narrator / Announcer
You are listening to crime classics and your host, Thomas Hyland. This is national defense week. This week, over 1,000 chapters of the reserve officers association of the United States are holding parades and other observances of the occasion. The important message the reserve officers try to impress on their fellow countrymen is this. That it is traditional in peacetime for a small, regular armed force to be backed up by a large, powerful reserve army. As president Eisenhower has said, in the long run, the security of a free country rests in the hands of its civilian soldiers. The reserve keeps America always prepared. Are you in it? And now, once again, Thomas Hyland and The Second act of Crime. Classics and his report to you on Jean Baptiste Tropman, killer of many.
Thomas Hyland
It was France. It was the Second Empire. Louis Napoleon was on the throne and the Empress Eugenie. Those of dexterity and imagination were inventing machines. And all of Europe was in an economic upheaval caused by mechanical control, contrivances cleverly put together. It was the era of the speculator, the money adventurer, the exploiter. For the youth of the time, there was the opportunity for wealth beyond dreams or poverty on the same level. And the youth of the time was Jean Baptiste Tropman. A youth of vision, a youth of ambition. He had a plan. Massacre the Kank family and assume identity of Jean Kank. Take his wealth and go to America. There were eight members of the Kank family. And when we pick him up in the fall of 1868, he had only killed one. The father. One day, Jean Baptiste wrote a letter to Madame.
Monsieur Kank
My dearest wife, I have hurt my hand. And therefore have asked my esteemed friend, Jean Baptiste Tropman to write this letter to you. I am here in the pension of Madame Bourget in the village of Cernay. How I miss you. How I miss my dear family. Are the six children too much of a travail without me? Let you and the rest content with the knowledge that our plans flourish. And soon, soon, dearest wife, we will be very rich. Very, very rich. Now, here is what you must do. Send our oldest boy, Gustav, to me for a twofold purpose. There is work for him here, for the future. And he should bring with him 5,000 francs which is needed immediately for expenses.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Your faithful husband, Jean King.
Monsieur Jean
Oh, Gustav.
Thomas Hyland
Come in, come in.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Hello, Monsieur Tremain.
Monsieur Kank
Good evening. Well, and how was your journey down from Paris?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Oh, very good, thank you. Where is Papa?
Monsieur Kank
I will take you to him presently.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
I would like to see him now.
Monsieur Kank
I've missed him. Gustav. Yes? Did your mama give you anything for your papa?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Some cakes. I have them here in my satchel.
Monsieur Kank
Cakes. Is that all? And an envelope which is right there in your satchel.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Which is right here in my pocket.
Monsieur Kank
Ah.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Sewn to the inside.
Monsieur Kank
You have a clever mother. Come, Gustav, I will take you to your father.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Monsieur?
Monsieur Kank
Yes, Gustav.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
My father wrote a letter and said
Monsieur Jean
there was work for me.
Monsieur Kank
Actually, there are two jobs available to you. Two jobs? One right down there at the pier. Can you swim?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Oh, no.
Monsieur Kank
Oh, well, then you would not be suitable for this one job, for it has to do with the piers and boats. But you do sums, Gustavo.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Simple sums.
Monsieur Kank
Good, good. Monsieur yes.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
What is my father doing now but a step away?
Monsieur Kank
That shack where the winch is.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Oh, I shall be very happy.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
To Monsieur.
Thomas Hyland
Jean strangled. The boy tore open the sewn pocket, extracted 5,000 francs from it. And then it was said that on the night of Gustav's disappearance, John returned to the pension exhilarated. He paid the landlady for a bottle of wine with 100 francs. He toasted everything and everybody and went upstairs to his room singing a saucy tune of the day.
Monsieur Kank
My dear wife, our son Gustav has arrived and has a fine situation. The time has come to disclose to you my secret. But I cannot leave this place. Therefore, all of you must come here for two or three days. This won't hurt you. For Tropman has procured and has put up half a million franc for our venture. I must match this sum with what I have. Thus, dear wife, I petition you to procure all our assets from the bank and bring them to me. Also, in order to complete legal documents, I must have vital papers and records, our birth and marriage certificates and those of our children. If I should not meet you at the train, it is because of the press of business. I have given all explanations to Traufmann. He will explain everything to you. You must do everything he tells you.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Your faithful husband, Jean King.
Monsieur Kank
Right. Madame Kank. At chateau over there.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
What of the children?
Monsieur Kank
They sleep?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Yes.
Monsieur Kank
Then let them wait.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Our shield. Our shield. Wake up. Listen. Now listen. Ashiel M. Trotman will take me to Papa, who is in that chateau. I will bring him back to you and the children. Watch over your brothers and sisters, dear son, and I will bring Papa to you. Very well, Monsieur Tropman.
Monsieur Kank
My arm.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
And will Gustave be with his Papa? Will I see my Gustave?
Thomas Hyland
No. No.
Monsieur Kank
He's dead. He's dead. Madame, as your husband is dead.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Come here.
Monsieur Kank
Come here, my child.
Thomas Hyland
Sometime later, a farmhand was walking across the fields. He saw some freshly turned earth and investigated it. He ran straight to the police. And the police came to the field. And not only the police. You remember. Crowd come to see. Come to look. A mass grave where were buried six members of the Kank family. And they saw what they had come for. Since the elder Kank was not to be found, the police immediately assumed that he was the murderer and. And began their fruitless hunt for him. In the meanwhile, in Le Havre, on a rainy day.
Monsieur Kank
And you believe there will be no difficulty in obtaining a passport for me to America? To America,
Monsieur Jean
Monsieur?
Monsieur Kank
Yes.
Monsieur Jean
Why do you not go to the authorities, Monsieur? Why do you need such as I to forge a passport for you?
Monsieur Kank
Invent a reason for yourself, my friend, and let it satisfy you.
Monsieur Jean
I will be satisfied only if I am paid well.
Monsieur Kank
As you will be, of course, of course.
Monsieur Jean
However, a small.
Monsieur Kank
Oh, forgive me, monsieur.
Monsieur Jean
I must go.
Thomas Hyland
Stay where you are.
Monsieur Kank
I'm afraid, monsieur, you would have to find another, my friend.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
The police.
Monsieur Jean
Well, have you been looking for me?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
There's been thievery in the docks.
Monsieur Jean
Little French. And I, of course, have been accused.
Monsieur Kank
Who else?
Monsieur Jean
Because it is a rainy day and you do not wish to look very far.
Narrator / Announcer
Perhaps. Tell me, who is your friend here?
Jean Baptiste Tropman
I do not know.
Narrator / Announcer
Who are you, Monsieur? Yes, you.
Thomas Hyland
Who are you? Me? Exactly, You.
Monsieur Kank
Why do you ask that?
Narrator / Announcer
Because you are with the little thief here. And so elegantly dressed. Monsieur, what do you do here? What connivance do you make with this small robber?
Thomas Hyland
I don't even know him.
Narrator / Announcer
Who are you, Monsieur? Your name, please. What so hesitant, my friend? You have papers?
Monsieur Kank
Oh, yes.
Monsieur Jean
No.
Narrator / Announcer
Yes or no, Monsieur,
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
do not run.
Monsieur Kank
Come back.
Jean Baptiste Tropman
Stop.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
Come back. Come back.
Thomas Hyland
The madman.
Monsieur Jean
You are following the sea.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Stop him.
Thomas Hyland
Oh, madman.
Narrator / Announcer
To jump in the ocean.
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
I should let you drown. However, do not frighten me.
Monsieur Jean
What about?
Thomas Hyland
But the policeman pulled Tropman out of the ocean and took him to the station. Here they put blankets about him and fed him hot soup. Because suddenly he was an important man. And because his papers, however damp, attested him to be. Jean K. And Jean Kank was wanted by every policeman in France for the slaughter of his family, including Gustav, who'd been found drowned. I'm not John K. Oh, then who are you? Not John K. How did you get his papers?
Monsieur Kank
K. Gave them to me.
Thomas Hyland
Where is he then?
Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett
I do not know.
Thomas Hyland
Who are you?
Monsieur Kank
Not Jun.
Thomas Hyland
Kenk.
Monsieur Jean
But who?
Monsieur Kank
Jean. He's Trotman.
Thomas Hyland
Where is Genk?
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
Listen, Listen.
Monsieur Kank
He's dead. He's dead and he's been murdered. He's murdered.
Sergeant Philip Melanchthon Wise
And.
Thomas Hyland
Yeah, I murdered him and his family.
Monsieur Kank
I helped murder them.
Thomas Hyland
Helped?
Monsieur Kank
There were others.
Thomas Hyland
What others?
Monsieur Kank
I do not know.
Thomas Hyland
But you were there.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Yes, yes, yes.
Thomas Hyland
And the Kank family is dead. Massacred, all of them. There was a trial and there was a verdict. Guilty. And there was the guillotine. And the days of the beast were done.
Narrator / Announcer
In just a moment, Thomas Hyland will tell you about next week's crime classic, Jean Baptiste Tropman. Tonight's crime classic was adapted from the original court reports and newspaper accounts by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. The music was composed and conducted by Bernard Herman. And the program is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis. Thomas Hyland is portrayed on radio by Lou Merrill. In tonight's story, Jack Edwards was heard as Tropeman. Featured in the cast were Irene Tedro, Larry Dobkin, Joseph Kearns, Junius Matthews, Kurt Martel and Vix Davis. Bob Lamont. Speaking here again is Thomas Highland.
Thomas Hyland
Next week, the story of a boy from the island of Malta who went to sea in the year 1821. And when he'd gotten just off the Canary Islands, he thought of a wonderful way to make some money quickly. It's listed in my files as the Good Ship Jane. Why she Became Flotsam. Thank you. Good night.
Narrator / Announcer
Two pretty gals and one pixelated. Evenings listening. They're waiting for you on CBS Radio Thursdays over most of these same stations. Meet Millie, starring Elena Verdugo and get exposed to Judy Graves and her family on Junior Miss Next Sessions tomorrow night. Weekday evenings, Beulah cooks up comedy on the CBS Radio Network.
Narrator / Scotland Yard Official
Sam. Sa.
Date: June 3, 2026
Host: RelicRadio.com
Featured:
This episode of Case Closed! transports listeners into the heart of the "Golden Age of Radio," resurrecting true crime stories from the vaults of old-time radio. The first half revisits a real murder case with a methodical Scotland Yard investigation in “Whitehall-1212,” while the second segment, “Crime Classics,” recounts the gruesome tale of French serial murderer Jean Baptiste Troppmann. Each drama is reenacted, brimming with period-authentic grit, clipped British tones, and the classic storytelling that made radio the medium of suspense in its prime.
"Case number 899 – The Running Board"
(True story of the murder of Police Constable William George Greenlee)
"Jean Baptiste Troppmann, Killer of Many"
(True tale of 19th-century French mass murderer)
This episode offers two of radio’s best-crafted true crime narratives, assembled for the modern listener. The first dramatizes a dogged and ultimately successful Scotland Yard investigation into a cop killer. Each investigative turn—expert testimony, witness canvassing, forensic analysis—is faithfully reconstructed, giving a sense of noir authenticity and era-specific procedure. The second half’s feverish journey through 19th-century France traces the genuinely disturbing exploits of Jean Baptiste Troppmann, painting the portrait of a cold-blooded young killer whose cunning and cruelty led to one of France’s most notorious family slayings. Through vivid performance, historic detail, and memorable radio craft, the episode captures the drama and horror that defined golden age crime broadcasts.