Podcast Summary: Sherlock Holmes: Savior of Cripplegate Square

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Episode Air Date: September 12, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode of Choice Classic Radio Detectives delivers an original Sherlock Holmes drama, "Savior of Cripplegate Square," inspired by passing references in the Conan Doyle stories. The broadcast revives the Golden Age of Radio, featuring a dark, morally complex case from Holmes’ early days—long before his famous partnership with Dr. Watson.

The plot centers on Holmes’ investigation into mysterious infant deaths at a private orphanage in Victorian London, uncovering themes of love, deception, social injustice, and the limits of moral action.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting the Scene—Love and Its Discontents

• The episode opens with Holmes and Watson debating love’s true nature during a stormy night. Holmes introduces his “dark tale for a dark night," questioning whether love is always a positive force.
  • Quote (Sherlock Holmes, 04:43):
    “Love is a positive force for good. Love brings out the best in man.”
    Dr. Watson: “Well, I think so.”
  • They segue into Holmes recalling a case involving “the Gutteridges of Cripplegate Square”—a story to “shatter your illusions about love.”

2. Nathaniel Collington Smith & Introduction to the Case

• Holmes references librarian Nathaniel Collington Smith, whose wisdom and perspective shape Holmes' detective approach.
  • Notable Quote (Nathaniel Collington Smith, 01:06):
    “It is the relationship between facts which gives them their meaning. However well concealed, the truth is always there to be detected...”
• Jenny Snell, a frightened, impoverished worker at Gutteridge’s orphanage, tearfully reveals her suspicions about child deaths.
  • Holmes learns of the practice of "baby farming": families pay orphanage owners to care for their unwanted children—often resulting in neglect or worse.
  • Quote (Jenny Snell, 13:04):
    “There’s something wrong in that house. Something very wrong. If it was just Mrs. Gutteridge, everything would be so different... He hates them, sir. The poor little babies, he hates them.”

3. First Evidence & Social Context

• Children at the orphanage are dying amid illness; Jenny connects her employer, Mr. Gutteridge, to suspicious tampering with medicines.
  • Deaths are certified as natural by an overworked local doctor—Holmes and Watson discuss the neglected underclass and the corruption and fatigue of East End medical practice.
  • Dr. Watson (15:12):
    “Those East End practices are desperately overworked. Some of the doctors there are not above taking money to turn a blind eye.”
• Jenny’s fear of retribution if she reports the Gutteridges mirrors the precariousness of life and work for the poor.

4. Holmes’ Investigation—Method and Morality

• Holmes, with Smith's encouragement, investigates by donning his first-ever disguise (21:21). He passes as a working-class father, “Mr. Hawkins,” seeking to place a child at the orphanage.
  • Notable moment: Holmes’ first use of disguise—a hallmark of later adventures.
    • Holmes (21:20):
      “Thinking sideways, you see? What did I do at university? Apart from study? I acted.”
• Visits confirm the outward decency of Mrs. Emily Gutteridge but a distinct malice or weariness from her husband.

5. The Medicine Store and the True Threat

• Jenny, unable to read, cannot secretly inventory the storeroom for Holmes. He resorts to “Plan B”—breaking in, discovering bottles of concentrated arsenic (27:51).
• Holmes consults the medical examiner about signs of poison—none are found. He faces an impasse: clear evidence of arsenic, but no proof it killed the children.
  • Holmes (30:44):
    “Why else is arsenic there if not to kill all those children?... If I read the evidence aright, that arsenic was being produced in secret, then hidden away...”

6. Turning Point—Jenny Disappears

• Jenny vanishes. Fearing the worst, Holmes considers confronting the killer or going to police but is warned by Smith that his evidence is only circumstantial.
• Holmes notices a crucial mistake: a supposedly “farewell letter” from Jenny, despite her being illiterate—a pivotal clue.
  • Holmes (37:04):
    “Next time you forge a farewell letter, Gutteridge, I suggest you first make sure that your victim knows how to write.”

7. The Denouement—Who Is the Real Murderer?

• Holmes publicly confronts the Gutteridges. Tobias Gutteridge confesses to killing Jenny to protect his wife, but Holmes reveals the mother, Emily, is the true murderer.
  • She had secretly addicted the children to arsenic, so withdrawal killed them without leaving evidence; Holmes recognized the symptoms only retrospectively.
  • Holmes (39:55):
    “You start with the smallest of amounts... Then you build up the dose...until you have a child hopelessly addicted to arsenic. Withhold it and the result is death. And not a trace of anything harmful to be detected. Clever and diabolical.”
  • Emily’s justification is chilling:
    • Emily Gutteridge (41:04):
      “For a time, for a tiny, fleeting time, I can give them warmth and comfort and love. And then I can make sure the world doesn’t get them and soil them and wear them down and finally destroy them like animals.”

8. Moral Ambiguity and Aftermath

• Emily is arrested; her motive remains ambiguous—was it mercy, despair, or something worse?
• Holmes reflects on the case’s legacy and on Smith’s optimism, revealing the limits of his own faith in humanity.
  • Nathaniel Collington Smith (42:47):
    “Whatever our experiences may suggest, I like to think that the world is basically a good place. There’s still tolerance and warmth and humanity out there. Don’t you believe that?”
  • Holmes (44:45):
    “I wish I could, my friend. I wish I could.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|---------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:06 | Collington Smith | “The truth is always there to be detected. At least that is my view. And I should like to think that you agree...” | | 13:04 | Jenny Snell | “Something wrong in that house. Something very wrong.” | | 15:12 | Dr. Watson | “Some of the doctors there are not above taking money to turn a blind eye.” | | 21:20 | Sherlock Holmes| “That was the very first time you ever used a disguise?...” | | 27:51 | Collington Smith | “Mr. Holmes, I cannot condone such blatant criminal activity. Unless, of course, it yielded the desired result.” | | 37:04 | Sherlock Holmes| “Next time you forge a farewell letter...first make sure that your victim knows how to write.” | | 39:55 | Sherlock Holmes| “You have a child hopelessly addicted to arsenic...and not a trace...to be detected. Clever and diabolical.” | | 41:04 | Emily Gutteridge| “For a time...I can give them warmth and comfort and love...then I can make sure the world doesn’t get them...” | | 42:47 | Collington Smith | “I like to think that the world is basically a good place...Don’t you believe that?” | | 44:45 | Sherlock Holmes| “I wish I could, my friend. I wish I could.” |

Important Segment Timestamps

• 05:01 — Holmes introduces the Cripplegate Square case
• 13:04 — Jenny Snell’s emotional account of trouble in the orphanage
• 27:51 — Holmes finds arsenic, confirming Jenny’s suspicions
• 32:17 — Holmes and Watson reconstruct the arsenic method (flypapers)
• 37:04 — The forged farewell letter reveals the cover-up
• 41:04 — Emily Gutteridge’s chilling confession and rationale
• 42:47 — Collington Smith’s hope for humanity contrasted with Holmes’ unease

Conclusion: The Episode’s Tone and Message

• Bleak, atmospheric, and thought-provoking, the script embraces the gloom of Victorian London social realities, exposing how love can drive both heroism and horror.
• The story ends with Holmes and Watson reflecting on the world’s goodness—its answer left uncertain.
  • Dr. Watson (44:40): “I believe so. Don’t you?”
  • Holmes: “I wish I could, my friend. I wish I could.”
• The moral ambiguity and emotional complexity set this episode apart from more straightforward detective tales, making for a powerful and haunting radio drama.

A superbly-crafted, emotionally rich story that probes the shadowy intersection of love, poverty, and moral action—reaffirming why Sherlock Holmes remains a classic for all ages.