Sherlock Holmes: Disappearing Scientists 04/08/1946 (Rathbone & Bruce)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Sherlock Holmes — Disappearing Scientists (04/08/1946)

Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce as Holmes & Watson
March 20, 2026 (original airdate: 04/08/1946)

---

Episode Overview

In this classic radio episode, Dr. Watson recounts a dramatic case entitled "The Disappearing Scientists," set just as Sherlock Holmes plans to retire from detective work. Scientific intrigue blends with murder and mystery as Holmes is drawn, against his intentions, into the sudden disappearance of a prominent scientist and his assistants. The case unfolds against the backdrop of exciting new radium research, and Holmes’ legendary logical methods are put to the test for one last adventure before his Sussex retirement.

---

Key Discussion Points & Plot Developments

Setting the Stage: Holmes’ Impending Retirement

• [02:42-03:29] Watson reflects on his and Holmes' final days at Baker Street, waxing nostalgic about their partnership and Holmes’ upcoming retirement on the Sussex Downs.
• Watson persuades Holmes to visit Professor Jean Boulain, a friend and leading radium researcher at London University.

"I must confess, Mr. Bartell, that my heart was heavy during those last few weeks we spent at Baker Street. I thought of the countless adventures that we'd shared together..." — Dr. Watson ([02:54])

---

The Radium Laboratory Visit

• [04:46-06:26] At the lab, Professor Boulain introduces the new and precious element, radium.
• Boulain laments being hamstrung by conservative university authorities and describes his three assistants:
  • Barker: Highly adroit and skilled
  • Taylor & Gladys Hughes: Gauche, enthusiastic but clumsy

"My best assistant is a man named Barker... The other two, a young man called Taylor and the girl Gladys Hughes. They mean well, but gauche, I fear, is the only word to describe them." — Professor Boulain ([05:47])

---

The Disappearances Begin

• [07:45-10:18] Holmes receives a series of increasingly urgent visits from distraught relatives: each reports the disappearance of one of Boulain’s assistants.
  • Gladys Hughes’ brother, Barker's mother, and Taylor's wife plead for Holmes’ assistance.
  • Holmes, frustrated and intent on retiring, refuses involvement.
• Finally, Holmes’ brother Mycroft sends word that Professor Boulain himself has disappeared, as well as the radium.

"Now Professor Boulain has disappeared. And the radium with him. Surely the pattern is obvious, Sherlock... Consider what a flashy case for you to retire on." — Sherlock Holmes (reading Mycroft’s telegram, [10:47])

---

Holmes Is Drawn Back In

• [11:03-13:07] Holmes yields to pressure and agrees to investigate.
• He starts by seeking clues among doctors who treat skin ailments, suspecting radium's medical applications could be key.

"Our first step, of course, will be to interview all the doctors who treat patients without charge." — Sherlock Holmes ([11:18])

---

Shadowing Mrs. Pendle

• [13:07-15:49] Holmes and Watson trail Mrs. Pendle, a charity patient, who had missed treatment after receiving a mysterious invitation to another address for a cure.
• They follow her to an abandoned warehouse.

---

Tragedy in the Warehouse

• [15:49-17:47] Mrs. Pendle emerges, shaken, and reports she discovered a dead man inside.
• Holmes and Watson find Professor Boulain slain, stabbed from behind as he worked.

"A dead man lying there in a great pool. Blood." — Mrs. Pendle ([16:21])

"Professor Bullard. All right, Watson." — Sherlock Holmes, recognizing the victim ([17:47])

---

The Case Tightens: Was It the Missing Assistants?

• [19:00-21:29] Holmes deduces the killer’s motive was to steal the valuable radium, likely by one of the three assistants.
• Each assistant or their relative offers an alibi; all claim their absences were innocent misunderstandings, and all have returned home.

"Confound it, Watson, we are no nearer the solution." — Sherlock Holmes ([21:29])

---

Holmes’ Breakthrough

• [22:35-23:14] Holmes broods at Baker Street, then announces he has solved the case. He sends telegrams to Mycroft and Scotland Yard to make the arrest and recover the radium.

"I have the answer. The case is solved." — Sherlock Holmes ([23:00])

---

How Holmes Reasoned It Out

[25:10-26:14]

• The fatal wound was made by a right-handed person.
• Earlier, Boulain described Barker as "adroit" (French for right-handed) and the others as "gauche" (left-handed).
• Only Barker could have been the killer.

"If you recall, Professor Boulain said that Jeffrey Barker was adroit while his other two assistants were gauche. Then he laughed because he said his remark was true, both literally and figuratively." — Sherlock Holmes ([25:29])

"Meaning the two gauche assistants were left handed and therefore only the adroit, the right handed Barker, could have inflicted the fatal wound." — Sherlock Holmes ([25:56])

---

Resolution & Epilogue

• Mycroft confirms the murderer (Barker) was arrested and the radium recovered (telegram: [24:53]).
• Holmes and Watson depart to Sussex for Holmes’ retirement, with Holmes expressing affection for Watson’s company and readiness for a new chapter.

"Yes, I. I was counting on you spending a few days down there with me, old chap. I. I hope you can spare the time. I should hate to make so drastic a change without my good old friend Watson at my side." — Sherlock Holmes ([23:57])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Holmes on Retirement
  "Let them earn their salaries. My dear Watson, I've helped them for the last time." ([10:33])

• Watson’s Nostalgia
  "I thought of the countless adventures that we'd shared together...as Holmes lay back in the shadows playing his beloved violin." ([02:54])

• Logic Puzzle
  "Adroit is the French word for right, and gauche is for left." — Holmes, solving the mystery ([25:54])

---

Important Timestamps (Selected)

• Holmes introduced to the case: 07:45–10:18
• Mycroft’s Intervention: 10:44–11:03
• Holmes agrees to investigate: 11:03
• Finding the body: 17:47
• Holmes solves the puzzle: 23:00–25:56
• Resolution/telegram from Mycroft: 24:53
• Retirement and friendship: 23:57

---

Tone & Style

• The episode maintains the witty, fast-paced banter between Holmes and Watson, infused with warmth, nostalgia, and classic deductive flair. Dialogue balances comic asides ("midwife to a bunch of beastly bees"), scientific curiosity, and high-stakes intrigue.

---

For Listeners: Why This Episode Stands Out

• Perfect blend of scientific progress anxieties, classic British detective logic, and the bittersweet end of an era for Holmes and Watson.
• A clever linguistic clue (adroit/gauche) at the heart of the solution—a hallmark of Holmesian deduction.
• The episode gives Dr. Watson a poignant role as Holmes’ friend at the moment of retirement.
• Rich period atmosphere: London’s foggy streets, the nascent age of radium, and the closing of Baker Street’s iconic doors.

---

Ideal for both Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts and new listeners, this episode exemplifies the enduring appeal of The Golden Age of Radio’s detective dramas, combining intellectual challenge with emotional resonance.

Transcript

[Harry Bartel]

Welcome to Choice Classic Radio where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube and thank you for [e-mail]

[Announcer]

Pet Rewind brings you Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in the new adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The Petri family, the family that took time to bring you good wine, invite you to listen to Dr. Watson tell us another exciting adventure he shared with his old friend, that master detective, Sherlock Holmes. And I'd like to ask you a short, simple question. Have you ever tried a glass of sherry before dinner? If you haven't, you'll never know what you're missing till you do. And make that sherry Petri California Sherry. Because Petri Sherry is the best beginning a good meal ever had. Just hold a glass of Petri Sherry to the light. Look at its wonderful clear amber color. Now, just get a whiff of that aroma. Bouquet, the experts call it. I'm telling you, you can just smell those big luscious grapes. Now, best of all, taste your Petri Sherry. Sip it. Sip it slowly so you don't miss one single drop of this truly delicious wine. Yes, without a doubt, Petri Sherry is good wine. Oh, and incidentally, Petri makes two kinds of sherry. Regular sherry and Petri pale dry. Both are fine. And if you're not sure which you might like best, do what I do. Don't buy one, buy two. Try them both and serve them proudly. Because the name Petri is the proudest name in the history of American wines. And now I'm sure our good friend and host, Dr. Watson is waiting, so let's go in and join him.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Good evening, Dante.

[Dr. Watson]

Good evening, Mr. Barto. Here, down, down, Monty. Down. Down there.

[Announcer]

Dogs seem very chipper tonight.

[Dr. Watson]

Tonight, yes. But they've been in disgrace most of the day, Mr. Barto.

[Announcer]

Oh, what have they been up to? After the seals again?

[Dr. Watson]

Oh, my boy. This time it was chickens. They got into my neighbor's coop and had a delightful time. Fortunately, there were no casualties. But I'm afraid that my. My good neighbor policy has suffered a slight diplomatic strain. But you've come here to listen to Sherlock Holmes adventures, not those of my dog. So draw up your usual chair and make yourself comfortable, and I'll get on with tonight's story.

[Announcer]

Last week, Doctor, you told us it was a case in which Sherlock Holmes found the solution without ever meeting any of the suspects.

[Dr. Watson]

That's quite correct, Mr. Bartel. As remarkable as an exhibition of distance detection as I ever recall. But judge, the story for yourself, my boy. It was in the autumn of 1903 and Sherlock Holmes was about to retire to his bee farm on the Sussex Downs. I must confess, Mr. Bartell, that my heart was heavy during those last few weeks we spent at Baker Street. I thought of the countless adventures that we'd shared together. I remembered those many evenings of quiet comradeship and companionship. A fire blazing away in the hearth as Holmes lay back in the shadows playing his beloved violin. And then, Mr. Bartel, as so often happened, there'd be a violent jangle on our doorbell and some wretched soul in misery would be standing before us and pouring out his troubles. Suddenly the violin would be discarded and Holmes the dreamer would become Holmes the man of action. Come, Watson, the game's a foot, he'd say. And in a few moments later we'd be rattling off in a cab through the foggy, gas lit London streets.

[Announcer]

Yes, Doctor, I can imagine it was pretty hard for you to leave Baker street.

[Dr. Watson]

It was, Mr. Bartell. However, as it transpired, there was one more adventure awaiting us before we left. A few days before the actual move, I persuaded Holmes to take an afternoon off from his packing and accompany me on a visit to the laboratory of an old friend of mine, a Professor Jean Bulan. He was an eminent French scientist engaged in very important work at the London University. By the way, this was at a period, Mr. Bartel, when radium was something extremely new and extremely rare. The university had just acquired a minute but invaluable portion of the element and Professor Boulin was in charge of the research connected with it. I can remember the picture so well as Holmes stood an abarthy, talking with keen interest with a distinguished sight.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Amazing, Professor Bulant. Quite amazing. Think that this tiny leaden vessel contains one of the most precious substances in the world.

[Professor Jean Boulain]

Yes, Mr. Holmes. We have a great deal to thank, Madame Curie for. This new element may force us entirely to revise our concepts of all physical structure.

[Dr. Watson]

Your research is a great responsibility, Buller.

[Professor Jean Boulain]

It is, Watson. I must confess that I wish the authorities here would give me a freer hand. I foresee such infinite possibilities in the use, particularly the medical use of radium. But my conservative superiors seem to regard it only as a toy, a scientific curiosity.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Limit your experiments accordingly, I suppose.

[Professor Jean Boulain]

Exactly. I'm given no opportunity to do anything that's in the least radical.

[Dr. Watson]

Must be very disheartening. How can research ever get anywhere along those lines?

[Professor Jean Boulain]

It is a great misfortune, Holmes, that you've determined to attire to your bee farm. This project. We could use such an analytical mind as yours.

[Sherlock Holmes]

You flatter me, Professor.

[Dr. Watson]

How many assistants do you have working with you, Buller?

[Professor Jean Boulain]

Three, but none of them are very inspired, I'm afraid. My best assistant is a man named Barker. He's a little on the conservative side too, but he is extremely adroit. The other two, a young man called Taylor and the girl Gladys Hughes. They mean well, but gauche, I fear, is the only word to describe them.

[Dr. Watson]

Why do you laugh?

[Professor Jean Boulain]

I was just amused to observe that in describing my assistants I chanced to be literal as well as figurative. It's odd that random symbolism can sometime. But never mind that. You would like to see the rest of the laboratory?

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, yes indeed we would.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Thank you very much.

[Professor Jean Boulain]

I have some extraordinarily interesting photographic plates that record the emanations of radium. They're over here. I think you will find them most fascinating,

[Sherlock Holmes]

Baker Street. Particularly when our rooms are full of packing cases. Seems rather drab after the scientific stimulations of Professor Boulain's laboratory, doesn't it, old chap?

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, the team drab, even if we hadn't been to see him. I feel frightfully depressed, Holmes. I just don't know what I'm going to do without you.

[Sherlock Holmes]

You're still a young man, Watson, and a susceptible one. You'll marry again.

[Dr. Watson]

No, no I won't.

[Sherlock Holmes]

You will, old chap. And you'll end up by being glad that your old roommate, your difficult, rather unsociable old roommate is living in retirement on the Sussex Down.

[Dr. Watson]

Rubbish. I shan't feel anything of the kind. In any case, I don't think you'll be able to stay in retirement for long. Your mind is much too alert to be satisfied by being a sort of midwife to a bunch of beastly bees.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh dear Watson, I feel that you'll never eat honey again.

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, you can laugh, Holmes, but I could see how excited you were when Bula suggested that you might help him with his radium experiment.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Flattering suggestion, I must admit, my dear fellow. Just the same, I. Oh, now who the devil's that?

[Dr. Watson]

From the urgency of the tug on the bell pull, I'd say that it was a class and.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Go and head him off, will you, old chap?

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, I'll do my best.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh Watson, explain that I'm no longer in practice.

[Dr. Watson]

Too late, Holmes. He's bused past Mrs. Hudson. Here he comes rushing up the stairs.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh, confound it.

[Dr. Watson]

I beg your pardon, sir.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Holmes?

[Dr. Watson]

No, I am not sure.

[Mr. Hughes]

Then you must be Mr. Holmes?

[Sherlock Holmes]

That is my name, sir. But may I ask what accounts for your rather whirlwind entrance? My housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson.

[Mr. Hughes]

I haven't any time to consider etiquette. My sister, Gladys Hughes has vanished. Vanished into thin air. You've got to find her for me, Mr. Holmes. I'll pay you any fee you name, but you've got to find it.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Mr. Hughes, I'm extremely sorry that your sister has vanished, but I'm afraid that I can do nothing to help you. I'm retreating, retiring. I'm giving up my practice.

[Mr. Hughes]

If you won't help me, I'll go to someone who will.

[Sherlock Holmes]

That's exactly what I mean, sir. I suggest that you go to the police. Or if you insist on a private investigator, I can strongly recommend Mr. Martin Hewitts. Yes, his address is 39 Pond Street, Knightsbridge. Good day to you. Good day, Mr. Hughes.

[Mr. Hughes]

36 Pound Street.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Night, Mr. Martin. As I can understand his concern, but his manners leave a great deal to be desired.

[Dr. Watson]

Holmes? Holmes. Janice Hughes, his missing sister. That was the name of the one of Professor Boulin's assistants, wasn't it?

[Sherlock Holmes]

True, fellow? But it's probably only a coincidence. Both Christian and surnames are extremely common ones.

[Dr. Watson]

Well I. I have a feeling that it may not be a coincidence.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh come now my dear fellow, don't you try and embroil me in a fresh adventure. I've retired and I'm leaving for Sussex in a few days. And if any more clients come wrenching at my doorbell, I shall ignore them.

[Mrs. Barker / Mrs. Taylor]

But Mr. Holmes, you've got to help me. My son, Jeffrey Barker has disappeared.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I'm sorry Mrs. Barker, but I'm afraid I'm.

[Dr. Watson]

Holmes. Jeffrey Barker was the name of Professor Boulain's chief assistant.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Watson, please believe me when I say that I am not to be inveigled into any further. Now, Mrs. Taylor, I'm sorry, but I can't help you.

[Mrs. Barker / Mrs. Taylor]

Oh, but Mr. Holmes, it's my husband, he's disappeared. We've only been married three months and now.

[Mrs. Pendle]

Oh, it's terrible.

[Mrs. Barker / Mrs. Taylor]

I've been so worried ever since he started to work on that strange new radium with Professor Jean.

[Dr. Watson]

Holmes, you can't pretend it's coincidence any longer. Garris Hughes, Jeffrey Barker and now Taylor, the three assistants of Professor Bullard.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I know it, Watson. Mrs. Taylor, the moving van will be here tomorrow. Take her to take my things to Sussex. I shall follow them immediately. I have retired, madam. Do you understand that? Retired.

[Dr. Watson]

Here's another Holmes. It'll be the fourth today.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Why won't Scotland Guard leave me alone.

[Dr. Watson]

Well, it's a pretty strange business. Three people engaged in research of this new element, radium, all disappeared within 48 hours. Scotland Yard needs your help.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Let them earn their salaries. My dear Watson, I've helped them for the last time. Well, let's see how they've couched their latest diffusion. Oh, this isn't from Scotland Yard. It's from my brother, Mycroft.

[Dr. Watson]

Mycroft? What's he gonna say?

[Mr. Hughes]

Listen to this.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Now Professor Boulain has disappeared.

[Dr. Watson]

Great Scott.

[Sherlock Holmes]

And the radium within. Surely the pattern is obvious, Sherlock. Radium must be found. Could solve the problem for you. But I'm too lazy. Consider what a flashy case for you to retire on. Regards, Mycroft. Ah, the old devil.

[Dr. Watson]

Holmes, this is shocking. My old friend Boulains has disappeared.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes, Watson, and now my brother asks me to investigate. The pressure becomes irresistible. Very well, I bow to fate and postpone my retirement for a few hours.

[Dr. Watson]

Good man, Holmes.

[Sherlock Holmes]

You know you'll.

[Dr. Watson]

You'll never really retire.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Let me see. As Mycroft says, there's an obvious pattern in this case. Our first step, of course, will be to interview all the doctors who treat patients without charge.

[Dr. Watson]

Why?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Well, surely that's obvious.

[Dr. Watson]

Well, it isn't at all obvious. I don't know why you always leave me in the dark.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Well, what makes you laugh?

[Dr. Watson]

Being left in the dark. It's just like the old times, isn't it, Holmes? Come on, old fellow, let's go. The game's afoot. Doctor McDonald, this is Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

[Dr. McDonald]

Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I'm very glad to meet you.

[Sherlock Holmes]

And I you, Dr. McDonald.

[Dr. Watson]

I swear that I've never been as many doctor's offices as I have today. But Mr. Holmes is in search of some information. Perhaps, doctor, you can help him.

[Dr. McDonald]

I'll do my best. What do you Want to know, Mr. Holmes?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Whether you have any charity patients with skin eruptions or growths of any kind. I mean, patients that have not kept their appointments recently, perhaps.

[Dr. McDonald]

Now let me see. Why. Why, yes, I do. Old Mrs. Pendle, she has a very bad case of lupus. She was due for a treatment here yesterday and I've seen nothing of her.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Splendid. Can you give me her address?

[Dr. McDonald]

Why, certainly. It's in my book. Here.

[Dr. Watson]

Well, I hope this isn't a false trail, Holmes.

[Sherlock Holmes]

You can only explore it and see, dear chap.

[Dr. McDonald]

Here we are. Mrs. Pendle, 36 Elm Gardens, Clapham.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Mrs. Pendle, 36 Alm Gardens, Clapham. Thank you, Doctor. I'm greatly obliged to you. Getting restless, Watson?

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, I am a little. We've been waiting outside Mrs. Pendle's house for over an hour. Why don't we knock on the door and see if she's at home?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh, no, no, no, my dear chap, we mustn't frighten her. I hope that she's going to lead us to our quarry. You see?

[Dr. Watson]

Front door's opening, woman's coming out.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes, it's Mrs. Pendle beyond doubt. Look at that bandage around the upper part of her face.

[Dr. Watson]

Hello. She's turning down the street. We're going to follow her, I suppose.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Naturally. But let's give us a. Let's give her a start, shall we? We don't want her to spot us.

[Dr. Watson]

Well, while we're waiting, perhaps you'll clear up one or two points for me. I'm still very much in the dark.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Pleasure, old chap. What puzzles you?

[Dr. Watson]

Well, one of the things that.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I've given her enough of a start. Let's follow her.

[Dr. Watson]

Oh, very well, very well. But look here, you asked me what I didn't understand. Two things puzzle me. What did Mycroft mean by the pattern of the case? Why are we following a poor sick old lady through the London streets?

[Sherlock Holmes]

I'll answer the first question, and I think the answer to the second will be self apparent. The pattern of the case is clear. Professor Boulain and his three assistants have vanished together with the radium. But their disappearances were not simultaneous. Had they been so, it would have been a transparent case of theft. But with the disappearances gradual rather than simultaneous, the emphasis has been subtly shifted.

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, I can see that, Holmes. But what you suppose is the back of the whole business can't be a simple case of theft. Radium is enormously valuable, but it'd be hard stuff to sell again.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Not to an unscrupulous criminal with a knowledge of medicine. Watson, my own theory, and I admit at the moment that it's purely a theory, is that Professor Boulain was worried because he was so hampered in his research. You remember that he expressed his great faith in the medical values of the new element, radium.

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, yes, yes, he did.

[Sherlock Holmes]

It's more than possible that he places the rights of science above the rights of property. That he's determined that he and his group will carry on their invaluable of research unhampered by the conservative restraints of the university.

[Dr. Watson]

I see what you mean, Holmes. But how does Mrs. Pendle, the poor woman that we're following, enter the picture?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Because one of the chief lines of radium research on the Continent so far has been with her sort of trouble. Professor Bulan's obvious move, if my theory is correct, would be to contact poverty stricken patients, promise them relief, induce them to abandon their regular treatments and submit

[Dr. Watson]

to him by joyous. Holmes, that seems perfectly logical. And yet I can't believe that Bullain would.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Mrs. Pengalton has reached her destination. She's turned down a driveway.

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, she's walking up to what looks like a deserted web.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Hurry old chap, don't let her out of our sight.

[Dr. Watson]

She's opened the door without knocking. She's gone in.

[Sherlock Holmes]

We'll wait here for a moment or two, then we'll follow her. I have a feeling that your old friend Professor Boulain is not far away, Watson.

[Dr. Watson]

You're probably right. I hope we can do something to protect him from the consequences of what he's done. It might easily mean the finish of a brilliant career.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I do everything in my power, but you know as well as I do.

[Dr. Watson]

Look, look, look, look.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Mrs. Pendle's coming out again. Yes, and she's in trouble. Come on, Mrs. Pendle, what's wrong?

[Mrs. Pendle]

I don't know how you know me name or who you be, but you ask me what's wrong. They tell me to come here to this address and I find a doctor who'd help. My face comes here and what do I find?

[Dr. Watson]

What did you find, madam?

[Mrs. Pendle]

A corpse, that's what I find. A dead man lying there in a great pool. Blood.

[Announcer]

You'll hear the rest of Dr. Watson's story in just a second. So I'm just going to remind you that there's one wine which everyone likes and which is good on any occasion. Petri. California Sherry. You want a swell wine to serve before dinner, the perfect answer is Petri Sherry. If you want a wine that's delicious after dinner or later in the evening when you're just talking things over with your friends again, you want Petri Sherry. And if you want a wonderful wine to serve at cocktail time, naturally you want Petri Sherry. Sherry is a wine that's good at any time. And Petri, well, Petri is the wine that's good all the time.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Well, Dr. Watson.

[Announcer]

So following the tracks of old Mrs. Pendle led you to a corpse, huh?

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, Mr. Bartel, of course. Sherlock Holmes and I went at once into the broken down warehouse to examine the scene of the tragedy. Slumped over a desk in a dark and shabby room, a flickering candle giving him a carb lighting to the scene, was the body of a man I think I Knew its identity even before Holmes turned to me and said,

[Sherlock Holmes]

Professor Bullard. All right, Watson.

[Dr. Watson]

Poor devil. Murdered of course.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes, but examine him for yourself, will you? Yes, there's no doubt about it.

[Dr. Watson]

This wound couldn't have been self inflicted. The right oracle of the heart has been pierced.

[Sherlock Holmes]

How long ago would you estimate death took place?

[Dr. Watson]

Not more than a. A couple of hours ago, I should say.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Not hard to reconstruct the killing. The murderer came up from behind Boulain as he sat here, crooked an arm around his throat. Yes. See the finger marks on the right hand side of the neck here. Then stabbed him in the chest, then withdrew the weapon and disappeared, leaving no traces. Confound it, a dusty room is an ideal place for recording footprints. But there are half a dozen different prints here, including Mrs. Pendles. Hello. Here's the print of a smaller woman. True?

[Dr. Watson]

Well it must be that of Gallis Hughes, his assistant.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Undoubtedly. That really proves nothing. Except that she was here with him in fact. That we were convinced of anyway. Question is. Go on, let's go outside and talk to Mrs. Pendle again.

[Dr. Watson]

Poor old bullet. What a shocking way to die.

[Sherlock Holmes]

What a great loss to science.

[Dr. Watson]

I suppose the murderer must have stolen the radium. We found no trace of it in there.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Undoubtedly the possession of the radium was the motive for the murder.

[Mrs. Pendle]

Mrs. Pendle, the poor man is dead, ain't he sir?

[Dr. Watson]

I'm afraid so, madam.

[Mrs. Pendle]

I knew it. I never should have come here. I never should have left. Dr. McDonald.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Mrs. Pendle, let me ask you a question.

[Mrs. Pendle]

I can't be answering no questions, sir. I don't know nothing about how the poor soul got his self murdered. What would a poor woman like me know about such things?

[Dr. Watson]

Now, now, now, my good woman. My friend isn't suggesting at all that you know anything about the murder.

[Mrs. Pendle]

Then what do you want to know, sir?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Who told you to come to this address today?

[Mrs. Pendle]

Mrs. Pendle, a young lady. Nice young lady she was too. She met me coming out of Dr. MacDonald's yesterday and told me that if I come here today I'd find a doctor who could cure me.

[Dr. Watson]

That was obviously Ms. Hughes. Holmes, I believe that your theory was right.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Come on Mrs. Pendle, we'll escort you to the nearest police station where you can report the murder.

[Mrs. Pendle]

Yes sir.

[Sherlock Holmes]

And then Watson, we must keep on the track of the radium. That perhaps is more important than any life.

[Dr. Watson]

How are we going to do that? We haven't a clue to go on.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Remember that Professor Boulain's three assistants are still missing. We Must go to the homes of each of them and see what can be found out. Mr. Hughes, you must realize by now that your sister's disappearance is part of something vastly more significant than you think. I must ask you in the.

[Mr. Hughes]

My sister didn't disappear.

[Dr. Watson]

What do you mean, sir? You came to us and said that she had.

[Mr. Hughes]

Oh, it was all a mistake, gentlemen. She came back today. She'd just been down to the seaside for a short rest and she'd forgotten to let me know. I'm sorry to have bothered you.

[Sherlock Holmes]

May I see our sister at once, please?

[Mr. Hughes]

I'm sorry, Mr. Holmes, but she's out just now. I don't know where she's gone or what time she'll be back.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Mrs. Barker, I've come to you about your son's disappearance. I'm afraid that.

[Mrs. Barker / Mrs. Taylor]

Oh, but my son didn't disappear, Mr. Holmes. It was all a misunderstanding. He came home today.

[Dr. Watson]

Then may we speak to him please, Mrs. Barker?

[Mrs. Barker / Mrs. Taylor]

Oh, I'm afraid that's impossible. You see he.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Mrs. Taylor, I want to talk to you about your husband's disappearance.

[Mrs. Barker / Mrs. Taylor]

Oh, that. He came home this afternoon, Mr. Holmes. At first I was so suspicious but. But when he explained. Well, I'm sure you know how it is in the first few months of marriage, those, those little tips.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Confound it, Watson, we are no nearer the solution.

[Dr. Watson]

And meanwhile here we are back in Baker street to find that the moving van has taken all your things off to Sussex. Perhaps you should give up the case, Holmes. And follow them.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Close my career on a note of failure? No, no, no, no, my dear fellow. I shall not leave London until this problem is solved.

[Dr. Watson]

That case. I'll sit down. Looks to me as if it may prove a lengthy wait.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I have rarely felt more frustrated, Watson. All three vanished technicians home safely with plausible stories or at least plausible alibis. And poor Boula murdered. The radium stolen.

[Dr. Watson]

I must say it makes no sense to me.

[Sherlock Holmes]

It must make sense. The pattern was well enough to find in the beginning. It's just a question of finding the right key. In a way it's clear enough what's happened. One of the three assistants, placing the financial value of radium above its value to science, murdered Boulain to obtain the prize. The other two, fearing that their complicity in the original plot would involve them as accomplices in murder, ran home and established an alibi.

[Dr. Watson]

The murderer did the same thing, for it's obvious one of the three must be the killer and the thief.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes. The question is, which one of the three is the Culprit.

[Dr. Watson]

If only poor Bulan were alive, he could help us.

[Sherlock Holmes]

My dear chap, if Bulan were alive there would be no murderer.

[Dr. Watson]

Of course it wouldn't.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Now let's see, let's see, let's see. Boulain gave us a few bare facts about his three assistants. I, I wonder. But of course Watson. I have the answer. The case is solved.

[Dr. Watson]

What do you mean, Holmes? How can it be solved? You haven't done enough investigation if it comes to that. You haven't even seen any of your three suspects.

[Sherlock Holmes]

That isn't necessary.

[Dr. Watson]

Well, you know who did it.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes, Watson, and so should you.

[Dr. Watson]

But we know nothing to set them apart from each other, except that one of them's a girl.

[Sherlock Holmes]

We know more than that, my dear fellow. Think hard.

[Dr. Watson]

Well, Boulain told us that Jeffrey Barker was an excellent technician while the other two were somewhat too clumsy.

[Sherlock Holmes]

We know even more than that.

[Dr. Watson]

Just if I know what Holmes, I

[Sherlock Holmes]

shan't even need to stay in London and follow the case through to its logical conclusion. A telegraph to Mycroft and another to Scotland Yard to take care of it. Yes, and I can be in Sussex before the moving van after all.

[Dr. Watson]

You mean you're going now? Before the case is solved?

[Sherlock Holmes]

But it is solved, my dear fellow. All that remains to be done is some purely routine work. What's the time?

[Mr. Hughes]

Splendid.

[Sherlock Holmes]

If we hurry we can catch the three hundred and forty five express from Waterloo.

[Mrs. Pendle]

We?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes, I. I was counting on you spending a few days down there with me, old chap. I. I hope you can spare the time. I should hate to make so drastic a change without my good old friend Watson at my side.

[Dr. Watson]

Delighted. But. But, but what?

[Sherlock Holmes]

My dear boy?

[Dr. Watson]

The case of the disappearing scientists.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Wait until we get to Sussex, shall we? As soon as I get an answer to my telegrams I'll explain the whole thing to you. And now let's hurry, shall we? Our train leaves in 40 minutes. More tea, Watson?

[Dr. Watson]

Thanks, old boy.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Ah, peaceful down here, isn't it?

[Dr. Watson]

Extremely. The moment. I must confess I find it rather nerve wracking.

[Announcer]

Oh, why?

[Dr. Watson]

You know why. Holmes, I want you to open that telegram and tell me if you're solution to the case was the correct one.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Very well, my dear chap. Let's see. It's from Mycroft. Listen. Murderer ARRESTED and RADIUM recovered. Well done, Sherlock. Though you took longer than I expected. Regards Micro congratulations, Holmes.

[Dr. Watson]

And now perhaps you'll condescend to tell me how you solved it.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Don't be angry with me, old Jap. I only wanted to make sure that my solution was correct. You remember the, the nature of the fatal wound on Boulain's body?

[Dr. Watson]

Of course. He'd been stabbed through the right oracle

[Sherlock Holmes]

of the heart from behind, proving that the murderer was clearly right handed.

[Dr. Watson]

Oh, what does that signify? Almost everybody's right handed.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh no, not in this case. If you recall, Professor Boulain said that Jeffrey Barker was adroit while his other two assistants were gauche. Then he laughed because he said his remark was true, both literally and figuratively.

[Dr. Watson]

I still don't see what I'm talking about.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh, come now, Watson, come. Think of the origin of the word adroit. Ardois. Droit is the French word for right,

[Dr. Watson]

and gauche is the word for left,

[Sherlock Holmes]

meaning the two gauche assistants were left handed and therefore only the adroit, the right handed Barker, could have inflicted the fatal wound.

[Dr. Watson]

I see it now, Holmes. You know, if you remembered that mark of Boulains at the time we found his body, you could have solved the case much sooner, Mr. Wolfella.

[Professor Jean Boulain]

Very true.

[Sherlock Holmes]

And when my old friend Watson points out that my memory is failing and my mind sluggish, then I know that my retirement has been postponed for far too long.

[Announcer]

Well, so. So Holmes really went through with his idea of becoming a bee farmer?

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, of course, of course. It became one of his favorite hobbies. Do you know anything about the raising of bees?

[Announcer]

Oh, nothing at all. The only connection I've ever had with bees was very remote. Once I had the hives.

[Dr. Watson]

Once you had the. Oh no. Oh no, no, Mr. Boston.

[Announcer]

Oh yes, Dr. Watson. But seriously, I do know one thing about bees. Even when you know all about them, you're apt to get stunned.

[Dr. Watson]

That's true enough.

[Announcer]

So I'll make my hobby Petri wine. You know, you can't miss when you buy Petri wine, because Petri wine is always good wine. The Petri family has been making fine wine for generations. In fact, they started way back in the 1800s. And they've handed on down from father to son, from father to son, the knowledge and experience absolutely essential to the making of truly fine wine. And since the making of Petri wine is a family affair, you can be sure that the name Petri means something on a bottle of wine. Those letters, P, E, T, R I are more than a trademark. They're the personal assurance of the Petri family that every drop of Petri wine is good wine. So when you buy wine of any type, you can put your faith in the Petri label. Because Petri took time to bring you good wine. Well, Dr. Watson, what new Sherlock Holmes story are you going to tell us next week?

[Dr. Watson]

Next week, Mr. Bartel, I'm going to tell you about one of the weirdest adventures that Holmes and I ever had. It concerns a haunted chapel in the wilds of Cornwall, strange organ music that played at midnight and the headless ghost of a murdered monk.

[Announcer]

Tonight's Sherlock Holmes adventure was written by Dennis Green and Anthony Boucher and was suggested by an incident in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's story, the Reigate Puzzle. Music is by Dean Fossler. Mr. Rathbone appears through the courtesy of

[Sherlock Holmes]

Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Mr. Bruce through

[Announcer]

the courtesy of Universal Pictures, where they are now starring in the Sherlock Holmes series. The Petri Wine Company of San Francisco, California invites you to tune in again next week, same time, same station. Sherlock Holmes comes to you from our Hollywood studios. This is Harry Bartel saying good night for the Petrie family.