WHItehall-1212 and Crime Classics

Summary

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Case Closed! – "Whitehall-1212" & "Crime Classics"

Date: June 3, 2026
Host: RelicRadio.com
Featured:

• Whitehall-1212: “The Murder of Constable William George Greenlee”
• Crime Classics: “Jean Baptiste Troppmann, Killer of Many”

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Episode Overview

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.

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Part I: Whitehall-1212

"Case number 899 – The Running Board"
(True story of the murder of Police Constable William George Greenlee)

Key Discussion Points & Plot Progression

Introduction to the Case

• [00:42–01:06] Scotland Yard’s Black Museum opens its files (“true stories, the plain, unvarnished facts just as they occurred, reenacted for you by an all British cast”).
• Chief Inspector Quentin Tabsett is assigned to investigate the brutal roadside murder of Constable Greenlee.

The Crime Scene

• [02:12–06:03]
  • The constable was found shot beside the road after apparently stopping a car.
  • Evidence: Pencil in hand, notebook nearby, vehicle skid marks on grass.
  • “He had been shot four times, sir … they shot the poor chap square in each eye” (Constable Greenlee, 03:27)

Early Theories & Investigation Steps

• [06:14–09:55]
  • Inspector and Sergeant Wise speculate:
    • Was it a local or a stranger?
    • Stranger drove fast, possibly running from a crime.
    • Possibility murder car was stolen, motive to avoid being caught.
  • Discovery of a blue Morris Cowley stolen at 2:30am matching the time and vicinity ([08:21–08:44]).

Police Work – Chasing Leads

• [10:12–13:32]
  • Witnesses report a speeding vehicle along the route between the crime and London.
  • Tire patterns identified as Dunlop Fortuners, matching the stolen car.
  • Ballistics confirms bullets from a Webley .38 revolver using obsolete black powder cartridges.

Dead Ends and Breakthrough

• [14:19–17:58]
  • Main suspect, “Whitey Wogan,” is brought in but cleared; was in jail the night of the murder (his girlfriend confirms the alibi with a colorful scene: “I hit him over the noggin with A Guinness bottle when he refused to kiss me in public” – Miss Winnie Clapsettle, 17:21).
  • Despite finding the murder vehicle, forensic evidence, and a spent cartridge (16:05), “our only suspect had been nursing a broken crown in jail.”

Passage of Time – The Case Goes Cold

• [18:00–21:34]
  • Case remains unsolved for almost a year.
  • “We questioned more than 1500 persons who might conceivably have committed the murder. Our man was not among them.” (Chief Inspector Tabsett, 18:00)
  • Sergeant Wise’s hunch is sparked by a lorry driver’s report from Sheffield.

Final Break & Capture

• [21:51–26:44]
  • New suspect: Frederick Guy Sears, a car thief with a Royal Engineers background, is connected through the network of stolen cars.
  • A search of Sears’s garage uncovers missing doctor’s instruments linked to the murdered constable (“These are Doctor's instruments... stamped right here on the handle of this lancet” – Wise, 25:03).
  • Sears is confronted and arrested after attempting to use a revolver—the sought-after Webley .38 with black powder cartridges.

Confession and Aftermath

• [27:18–28:15]
  • Sears confesses to the particularly brutal nature of the crime:
    “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 accomplice are tried and executed.

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Memorable Quotes & Notable Moments

• On the Blunt Reality of Murder:
  “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.” (Chief Superintendent John Davidson, 01:34)
• On Investigation:
  “What we need to look for is some crook running away from something, running back to London to hide.” (Sergeant Wise, 06:20)
• At the Emotional Apex:
  “No policeman ever forgets the murder of another policeman.” (Chief Inspector Tabsett, 18:00)
• Colorful Alibi:
  “I hit him over the noggin with A Guinness bottle when he refused to kiss me in public…” (Miss Winnie Clapsettle, 17:21)

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Part II: Crime Classics

"Jean Baptiste Troppmann, Killer of Many"
(True tale of 19th-century French mass murderer)

Key Discussion Points & Narrative Arc

The Killer’s Early Violence

• [31:14–32:32]
  • Troppmann’s troubled adolescence: violent towards brother and father (“Brother, dog… why am I cursed with such a brother as you?”).
  • First murder committed at age 16: impulsively drowns a traveler in a river ([34:08]).

The Con & the Plan

• [35:06–36:34]
  • Troppmann ingratiates himself with Monsieur Kank and his family, plotting to get their wealth.
  • “I have a plan, monsieur. And I wish to interest you in it.” (Troppmann, 36:05)

Serial Murders Unfold

• [40:33–48:09]
  • Kank family is lured away, murdered systematically for money:
    • “Gustav, did your mama give you anything for your papa?” … “Some cakes. I have them here in my satchel.” … (47:03)
  • Significant emotional tension throughout the murders; Troppmann coldly extracts money from his young victim.

Mass Grave Discovery & the Aftermath

• [52:02–56:02]
  • Farmhand discovers mass grave; authorities blame the missing Kank patriarch.
  • Troppmann is caught when he’s suspected of thievery.
  • Under pressure, he confesses:
    “Yeah, I murdered him and his family.”
    “There were others... I do not know… but you were there?... Yes, yes, yes.”

Resolution

• The trial, conviction, and execution by guillotine close out the gruesome saga.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Troppmann’s Nature:
  “Jean Baptiste Tropman is a youth who hugs close. Evil and more.” (Jean Kank, 37:20)
• On His Nefarious Planning:
  “Massacre the Kank family and assume identity of Jean Kank. Take his wealth and go to America.” (Thomas Hyland, 44:19)
• Confession Scene:
  “I murdered him and his family... There were others... but you were there?... Yes, yes, yes.” (Troppmann and Inspectors, 55:31–56:02)

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Important Timestamps

• [02:10] – Assignment to the case in Whitehall-1212
• [06:03] – Discussion of car theft and black powder clue
• [12:11] – Tire expert ties treads to stolen car
• [14:22] – Pivot as main suspect is cleared with an ironclad alibi
• [17:21] – Humorous but reliable alibi from Winnie Clapsettle
• [21:12] – New suspect (Frederick Guy Sears) emerges via a hunch
• [25:03] – Discovery of incriminating doctor’s instruments
• [26:05] – Sears’s arrest and capture of the murder weapon
• [27:18] – Chilling explanation for the mutilation
• [31:14] – Introduction of Troppmann in “Crime Classics”
• [34:08] – First murder as a youth
• [36:05] – Troppmann pitches his plan to Monsieur Kank
• [44:19] – “Crime Classics” outlines Troppmann’s true, murderous goal
• [47:03] – Troppmann tricks Gustav, then murders him for money
• [52:02] – Discovery of the mass grave
• [55:31–56:02] – Troppmann’s confession
• [56:02–57:22] – Epilogue and execution

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Style & Tone

• The Whitehall-1212 segment is deliberate, procedural, and grimly humorous at times, highlighting the methodical nature of the Yard’s investigation and the stoicism of its officers.
• Crime Classics is more gothic and atmospheric, with Thomas Hyland’s wry narration swinging between macabre storytelling and sardonic historical perspective.
• Authentic period British and French accents, dry police wit, and a rich sense of setting.

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Summary for Non-Listeners

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.

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Transcript

[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.