Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Missing Submarine Plans (Rathbone & Bruce)

Summary

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Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Missing Submarine Plans

Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Starring Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes), Nigel Bruce (Dr. Watson)
Episode Date: October 24, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode adapts "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans," plunging Holmes and Watson into a case of national security involving stolen submarine blueprints, a dead clerk, and espionage. Set against the backdrop of a foggy London, the duo navigate political intrigue, murder, and betrayal to protect Britain’s secrets.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Breakdown

Setting the Scene: Fog, Frustration, and Inactivity

• 00:40–03:18
  Holmes and Watson, cooped up by persistent London fog, mull over a lack of criminal activity, with Holmes lamenting the "no initiative, no imagination" of London’s underworld. (02:53)
  • Holmes: "No initiative, no imagination. Nothing ever gets done." (02:53)
  • Holmes is bored and irritable, longing for a challenging case.

The Inciting Incident: Mycroft’s Disturbing Telegram

• 03:28–05:46
  Mycroft Holmes sends a rare urgent telegram, prompting Holmes and Watson to revisit the mysterious death of Cadogan West, a government clerk found dead on train tracks.
  • The case is “serious enough to cause Mycroft to alter his habits.” (04:43)
  • Significant Details: Cadogan West carried technical papers, including missing submarine plans, and bought theatre tickets for the night he died—suggesting he didn't plan suicide.

Enter Mycroft: National Stakes and Pressures Mount

• 06:32–08:16
  Mycroft, described as the “tidiest and most orderly brain alive,” arrives in person, indicating national urgency. He reveals the stolen Bruce Partington submarine plans are involved, of critical military importance.
  • Mycroft: "Those papers... were none other than the plans of the Bruce Partington submarine. A submarine which would completely revolutionize naval warfare." (07:23)
  • Three crucial pages are missing; the peace of Europe hangs in the balance.

Investigation Launch: The Facts and Suspects

• 09:17–11:10
  Mycroft shares official findings:
  • Custodians: Sir James Walder and senior clerk Sidney Johnson, both with alibis.
  • Cadogan West’s reputation is “hot headed, but straight and honest.”
  • Holmes puzzles over the absence of West's train ticket and the logic of his actions.

Crime Scene: Danger Underground

• 13:39–16:27
  Holmes and Watson visit the Underground tracks where West was found.
  • The location features a sharp track curve with minimal signs of struggle or bleeding, suggesting West died elsewhere and was placed atop the train.
  • The duo narrowly escape an oncoming train in a tense, cinematic sequence.
    • Memorable Moment: “Run sir, run for your life!” (15:10)

Victims and Connections: Sir James’s Death and West’s Fiancee

• 16:27–20:43
  Holmes visits Sir James's house to find he has died from heartbreak (“He couldn't survive the disgrace to his department.” (17:16)).
  • With Violet Westbury, West's fiancé, Holmes elicits that West was worried the night he died and noticed someone lurking near the office:
    • Violet Westbury: “He would have cut his right hand off rather than sell a state secret.” (18:07)
    • West noticed a "shadow moving" and went to investigate, never returning—implying a witness or second party to the crime.

Holmes’s Legwork: Chasing Spies

• 21:10–22:21
  Holmes spends the day investigating the homes of known foreign agents, focusing on Hugo Oberstein. He finds evidence implicating Oberstein and schemes to set a trap using coded newspaper ads found in Oberstein’s desk.

The Trap: Cat-and-Mouse at Oberstein's House

• 22:38–25:43
  Holmes and Watson break into Oberstein’s house and set an ambush for whoever responds to the coded ad.
  • They capture Colonel Valentine Walter (Sir James's brother), the real thief:
    • Watson: "It's Colonel Valentine Walter, Sir James's brother." (25:09)
    • Walter, wracked by guilt, confesses he stole the plans out of financial desperation but denies killing West.

Truth Revealed: The Murder Conspiracy

• 25:43–27:06
  Colonel Walter recounts that after he took the plans, West confronted him with Oberstein present. Oberstein murdered West and used the Underground to dispose of the body, planting some papers on him to implicate him and keep others.
  • Oberstein (impersonated): “We give him a nice ride on top of the underground train. No. He will be the guilty one. Who will ever know?” (26:39)

Resolution: Justice Served

• 27:10–27:49
  Holmes tricks Oberstein into returning to England with a fake offer for the missing papers; he is apprehended at Folkestone. Holmes receives a token of gratitude from "a gracious little old lady"—implied to be the Queen.
  • Dr. Watson: “When I asked him where he got it, he answered it was just a small present from a certain gracious little old lady for whom he'd been able to do a small favor.” (27:40)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Holmes on the boredom of crime in London:
  “No initiative, no imagination. Nothing ever gets done.” (02:53)

• Mycroft on the value of the submarine plans:
  “A submarine which would completely revolutionize naval warfare. The most important papers in our government archives.” (07:23)

• Holmes rationalizing the murder scene:
  “His body fell from the roof of the carriage where it had been placed. Cadogan West met his death elsewhere.” (16:20)

• Violet Westbury defending her fiancé:
  “He would have cut his right hand off rather than sell a state secret.” (18:07)

• Holmes, ever wry:
  “There are times when I suspect we aren't quite respectable.” (23:02)

• Climactic confession and setup:
  “We give him a nice ride on top of the underground train. No. He will be the guilty one. Who will ever know?” (26:39)

• Watson on Holmes’s reward:
  “It was just a small present from a certain gracious little old lady for whom he'd been able to do a small favor.” (27:43)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Holmes & Watson discuss the fog and lack of crime: 00:40–03:18
• Mycroft's telegram and case background: 03:28–05:46
• Mycroft explains the national importance: 06:32–08:16
• Visit to the crime scene in the Underground: 13:39–16:27
• Interview with Violet Westbury: 17:53–20:43
• Holmes’s investigation of Oberstein’s house: 21:10–22:21, 23:02–24:20
• Ambush at Oberstein’s, Colonel Walter caught: 24:38–25:43
• Colonel Walter’s confession and Oberstein’s guilt: 25:43–27:06
• Final wrap-up, mention of Holmes’s royal reward: 27:10–27:49
• Next week’s teaser (“The Lion’s Mane”): 28:27–28:53

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Episode Tone and Style

The tone combines tension, urgency, and the trademark camaraderie between Holmes and Watson. Basil Rathbone’s Holmes is sharp, restless, and commanding; Nigel Bruce’s Watson provides warmth and levity. Mycroft is formal and harried. The episode keeps the original Victorian suspense while adding Golden Age radio’s brisk pacing and clear moral resolution.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode masterfully blends espionage intrigue, fast-paced investigation, and character-driven drama. The fog-drenched streets of London, the shadowy world of official secrets, and the tragic consequence of misplaced trust make for an engaging, classic radio detective story.

Whether you're a fan of Holmes or new to these legendary broadcasts, “The Adventure of the Missing Submarine Plans” exemplifies sharp wit, clever deduction, and the pulse of old-time radio mystery at its best.

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Transcript

[Knox Manning]

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].

[Narrator]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

[Dr. Watson]

The.

[Narrator]

Makers of Grove's Bromo quinine tablets bring you another adventure of Sherlock Holmes. With Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. A cold is a miserable thing. A cold may become a dangerous thing. Even a so called light cold can take a serious turn. Be prompt, be decisive in your treatment of a cold. At the very first sign of a cold, take Grove's Bromo quinine tablets. Bromo quinine tablets. Quickly check the symptoms of a cold. Quickly relieve the distress of a cold. They give you speedy results which are very important. Don't monkey around when you can get such a dependable preparation as Grove's Bromo quinine tablets. And now, here we are again on.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Our usual visit to Dr. Watson.

[Narrator]

He's waiting for us in his study, a cheerful blaze crackling on the hearth.

[Dr. Watson]

I'm very relieved to see you, Mr. Manning. Hasn't the weather been atrocious today? I was beginning to wonder if you'd be able to get here tonight through all this fog.

[Narrator]

Yes, it certainly is what you Londoners call a regular pea.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Super.

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, indeed. It reminds me of the adventure of the missing submarine plans. A case that was solved in the underground.

[Narrator]

Underground?

[Dr. Watson]

What you Americans call a subway.

[Narrator]

Yes, but what is a solution in a subway got to do with a foggy night?

[Dr. Watson]

Well, you see, the affair started in weather exactly like this. It was the third week in November, the year 1895 to be exact. On Monday, a dense yellow fog had settled down upon London. On Thursday it was still there, thicker and murkier than ever. At first, Holmes had turned his nervous energy to cross indexing his huge reference books. But when, after pushing our breakfast chairs back for the fourth morning, we saw the greasy brown swirl still drifting past the windows. Holmes. Patience snapped. Holmes, if you must pace around in circles, I wish you'd change directions now and then. You're. You're making me dizzy. Bah.

[Sherlock Holmes]

It's inexcusable, Watson, inexcusable. No initiative, no imagination. Nothing ever gets done.

[Dr. Watson]

If you're alluding to the inactivity in this last session of Parliament, my dear Holmes.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I'm not speaking of our lawmakers, Watson, but of our law breakers. The London criminal is certainly a dull fellow.

[Dr. Watson]

What makes you say that?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Well, look out of the window. Ideal Weather for committing a crime, criminal advances and his intended victim practically unseen, he pounces and disappears into thin air.

[Dr. Watson]

There have been numerous petty theft, petty.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Petty theft, pickpockets, ragamuffins. What's the country coming to now? If I were a criminal, Watson, I.

[Dr. Watson]

For one would move to America.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh, hello. Hello. Mrs. Hudson's knocking, excited. What's up, I wonder? Yes, Mrs. Hudson, what is it? Oh, a telegram. For me?

[Violet Westbury]

Yes, sir.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Very well, thank you.

[Dr. Watson]

Oh, well, what's it say?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Wait until I open it, can't you? Ah, dear me, what next? Most unusual, Watson, most unusual.

[Dr. Watson]

What's most unusual, Watson? What's it, sir?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Well, it's from my brother, Mycroft, you remember him. He helped us solve the case of the Greek interpreter. He's coming here?

[Dr. Watson]

Why not? What's so phenomenal about it?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Why not? Why not indeed? It's as startling as it would be to meet a tram car coming down a country lane. Yes, yes, now I come to think of it, Mycroft is rather like a tram car. His rails lead from his Pall Mall lodgings to the Diogenes Club in Whitehall. That's his circle. I wonder what upheaval could have derailed him.

[Dr. Watson]

Doesn't the telegram explain?

[Sherlock Holmes]

It says, must see you about Cadogan west coming at once.

[Dr. Watson]

Why, that's the young chap who's found dead in the underground on Tuesday morning. I remember reading about it in the papers. Oh? The young man had apparently fallen out of a train and. And killed himself. He hadn't been robbed and there was no reason to suspect violence. Quite an uninteresting case if I remember correct.

[Sherlock Holmes]

And yet it's serious enough to cause Mycroft to alter his habits. No, Watson, this must be an extraordinary event. Do you recall any other facts about the affair?

[Dr. Watson]

Yes, I come to think of it, there was one unusual bit about came out at the inquest. They were unable to ascertain at what point. Point? He entered the train because his ticket was missing. Strange.

[Sherlock Holmes]

What articles were found on the body?

[Dr. Watson]

£2 15, I believe. It was a checkbook. And? Oh, yes, yes, there's two dress circle tickets for the Woolwich Theater dated for that evening.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Theater tickets, eh? Then it wasn't suicide. A man doesn't procure theater tickets for the evening on which he intends to end his life. Anything else?

[Dr. Watson]

A small packet of technical papers.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Technical papers? What kind of technical papers? Newspapers didn't say as serious as that. What did the young man do? Where was he employed?

[Dr. Watson]

He was a clerk at Woolwich Arsenal.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Ah, Government employee There we have it, Watson. British government, Woolwich Arsenal, technical papers. That's why Mycroft is involved in this affair.

[Dr. Watson]

I don't understand.

[Sherlock Holmes]

No, I suppose not. Watson, have I ever told you what Mycroft is?

[Dr. Watson]

Your brother, of course.

[Sherlock Holmes]

No, no, no, Watson, do you have to be so dense? I mean, do you know what he does?

[Dr. Watson]

I seem to have some vague recollection that you once told me that he'd held some small office under the British government.

[Sherlock Holmes]

It would be more accurate to say, in a way, that he is the British government.

[Dr. Watson]

What?

[Sherlock Holmes]

His position is unique. He made it for himself as the tidiest and most orderly brain of any man alive, with a great capacity for storing facts and giving them the proper interpretation. The conclusions of every government department are passed on to him. He's the central exchange, the clearing house. Again and again his word has decided the national policy. He thinks of nothing else. Nothing else can lure him from his contemplations.

[Dr. Watson]

And yet he's coming here.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes. Jupiter is descending on us today. What on earth can happen, Watson? That sounds suspiciously like a bad pun. Ah, here he is, if I'm not mistaken, to speak for himself. Come in, come in. Hello, Mycroft. What's up? What's up? You look flustered.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Most annoying business, Sherlock, most annoying. You know how I dislike altering my habits. Extremely awkward for me to come away from the office, particularly with Siam in its present state. Oh, dear me.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Sit down, Mycroft, sit down. You know Watson, of course.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Yes, of course. I'm trying to find a chair that I can trust to hold me.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I'd better take the sofa. You certainly hadn't got any thinner.

[Mycroft Holmes]

I've never seen the Prime Minister so upset. Mr. The Admiralty. It's buzzing like an upset beehive. Do you know anything about the case?

[Sherlock Holmes]

No. Watson's just been telling me what was in the newspapers. Just what were the technical papers found on the body?

[Mycroft Holmes]

Sherlock, for the love of heaven, not so loud. Those papers which the wretched youth had in his pocket were none other than the plans of the Bruce Partington submarine. Oh, a submarine which would completely revolutionize naval warfare. The most important papers in our government archives. Under no circumstances could they be removed from the office. Even the chief constructor of the navy was forced to go to Woolwich if he desired to consult them.

[Sherlock Holmes]

And yet we find them in the pockets of a dead junior clerk in the heart of London. From an official point of view, it's deplorable, my dear Mycroft, simply deplorable.

[Mycroft Holmes]

You may laugh, Sherlock, but this country won't be safe until they are recovered.

[Dr. Watson]

I thought you said they were found in the pocket of this chap, Cadogan West.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Ten papers taken from Woolwich. Seven were found in the pockets of Cadogan West. Three are still missing. The three essential ones. To recover those three papers is imperative. The peace of Europe depends on.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Nice little problem, eh, Watson? Why did Cadogan west take the papers? How did he die? How did his body reach the place where it was found? And where are the missing papers?

[Mycroft Holmes]

Find the answer to those questions, Sherlock, and you'll have done your country an invaluable service.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Why don't you solve it yourself, Mycroft?

[Mycroft Holmes]

I believe you could possibly. It's a question of digging out details. Give me the details and I can give you the solution. From an armchair?

[Dr. Watson]

No.

[Mycroft Holmes]

When it comes to running about and cross, questioning railway guards and lying on one's face with a lens to one's eye. No, no, that's not my mate here.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Besides your. Your figure prevents your taking such an undignified position, eh? Very well, leave that part of it worth, eh, Watson?

[Dr. Watson]

Right you are.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Good. I've got a cab waiting outside to take the place where the body was found. I can give you the details on.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Now, Mycroft, who was the official guardian of these famous papers?

[Mycroft Holmes]

No less a personage than Sir James Walder. Gentleman who's grown gray in the service. His patriotism is beyond suspicion.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Bachelor, if I'm not mistaken, lives with his brother.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Yes, he was the house of Admiral Sinclair at Berkeley Square during the whole of the evening when this accident occurred. The admiral vouches for him. He's one of the two who have the only keys to save.

[Sherlock Holmes]

And his key was with him all evening?

[Mycroft Holmes]

Right, his key. The key to the building, the key to the room.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Who was the man with the other key?

[Mycroft Holmes]

The senior clerk, Mr. Sidney Johnson. Man of 40, married, silent, morose, an excellent service record.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Any alibi?

[Mycroft Holmes]

He too had his key with him. Seems to have spent the evening playing a game of draughts with a green grocer around the corner from his lodgings. Of course, he has only the word of this greengrocer to back him up.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh, come, come, my dear Mycroft, no class discriminations, please. The word of a greengrocer is often just as good as that of an admiral. What about Cadogan West?

[Mycroft Holmes]

He had a good reputation. A bit hot headed, but straight and honest. At least everyone thought so. He was next to Sidney Johnson at the office. His duties brought him into daily personal contact with the plans. No one else ever had the handling.

[Dr. Watson]

Of them, that's perfectly clear. He must have taken.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Ah, not so fast, Watson, not so fast. Who locked them up that night?

[Mycroft Holmes]

Mr. Sidney Johnson.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Ah, they were of value, commercially, I mean.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Oh, yes, there's no doubt that Wes could have got several thousands for them very easily.

[Sherlock Holmes]

And yet only a small amount of money was found on the body.

[Dr. Watson]

Perhaps the buyer took it back after he'd murdered West.

[Sherlock Holmes]

What puzzles me is how did west obtain possession of those papers? To do so, he must have had a false key.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Several false keys, Sherlock. He had to open the building and the room as well.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh, well, well, well, several false keys then. Let me see, let me see. Suppose Wes did take the papers and went into town on the way back to Woolwich, where he is hoping to replace the papers he's killed and thrown from the train.

[Mycroft Holmes]

But the spot where the body was found is considerably past the station for London Bridge, which is the route to Woolwich.

[Sherlock Holmes]

That's interesting. Also, if young west did make an appointment with some foreign agent to sell the papers that night, why didn't he keep the evening clear? Why buy two theater tickets?

[Mycroft Holmes]

Exactly. Furthermore, he actually escorted his fiance halfway there before he disappeared.

[Dr. Watson]

Blind? That's what it looks like to me.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Why did he take the papers at all? Why not copy them out in the office and sell the copies? He certainly had plenty of opportunity to do so. And why the absence of his underground ticket?

[Dr. Watson]

Perhaps? A ticket would have shown us which station was near the agent's house. So the murderer destroyed it.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Good, Watson, very good. And yet I wonder.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Well, here's the underground station. The railway authorities have sent a man round to show the exact place where the body was found.

[Sherlock Holmes]

You won't change your mind and come with us?

[Mycroft Holmes]

Go crawling around that black hole on my hands and knees? Not very likely. Well, I shall expect a report on your efforts this evening.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Never expect too much, Mycroft. Never expect too much.

[Narrator]

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[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

This way, sir. Step right along the tracks.

[Dr. Watson]

But it isn't safe. Supposing a train should come shooting round that curve.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Oh, that's all right, sir. There won't be another for five minutes anyway. Here we are, Zip. This is where they found the body? Right here alongside the rails, lying on its face.

[Sherlock Holmes]

It was.

[Dr. Watson]

Spooky old place, eh, Holmes? Like the catacombs, only without the skeletons.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Yeah.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Anything in his hands when they found him?

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

No, sir.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Were they clenched or spread out as if he were protecting himself?

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

No, sir, they was what you might call relaxed.

[Sherlock Holmes]

What time did all this happen?

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Well, sir, the train he was hoisted out of, as near as we can figure, passed along here about midnight on Monday.

[Sherlock Holmes]

All the carriages have been examined for signs of violence.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

I suppose they didn't find nothing, not even the missing ticket. There was a passenger to Algate on the ordinary train about 11:40 it was. He said he'd heard every thud, like something striking the line just before the train reached this station, but it was so foggy. He said he was blessed if he could see what it was.

[Dr. Watson]

Home. What's the matter? What are you staring at?

[Sherlock Holmes]

The curb, Watson. The curve of the rails. What do you mean? I suppose there aren't many curves as abrupt as this.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

No, sir, I can't say as there is.

[Dr. Watson]

What have curls got to do with it?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh, an indication, Watson, merely an indication. Unique. Perfectly unique. And yet. Why not? I don't see any indications of bleeding on the line.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

No, sir, there wasn't any to speak of.

[Sherlock Holmes]

But I understand there was a considerable wound.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

The bone was crushed right enough.

[Dr. Watson]

Holmes. You hear that? It's a train. It's coming this way. Run, sir. Run for your life. Yes, but where?

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Up ahead there's a place where the train switches on one watch a run.

[Sherlock Holmes]

It's just around the curve.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Well, we'll never make it.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes we will.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Faster.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Faster.

[Dr. Watson]

There's the switch up in. Come on. Here comes train now.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

We'll make it. We'll make it. Ah, Justin Watson, for the love of.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Heaven, you're on the wrong track.

[Dr. Watson]

Well that was a narrow escape, Holmes. I, I must say my knees are still shaking. Look at the shoulder of my coat where you pulled at me.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Lucky thing for you that I did.

[Dr. Watson]

Where are we off to now in this fog?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes, it's a nice afternoon. Suppose we pay a few calls. I think Sir James Walter claims our first attention. After that we might drop in on Ms. Westbury.

[Dr. Watson]

Ms. Westbury? Who's she?

[Sherlock Holmes]

She is Cadogan West's fiance and the last person to see him alive.

[Dr. Watson]

Holmes, we seem to be going around in circles. We've accomplished absolutely nothing so far except to get ourselves nearly annihilated in the underground. After all, it's perfectly obvious that the young man had a quarrel with someone and all probably to the agent to whom he sold the papers and got himself thrown out of the railway carriage for his pains.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I disagree with you, my dear Watson. His body fell from the roof of the carriage where it had been placed. Cadogan west met his death elsewhere.

[Dr. Watson]

The roof of the train.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Consider the facts, Watson. A, the curve in the tracks. The body is found at a spot where the train pitches and sways as it comes around the points. B, there was no ticket. C, there were no signs of bleeding on the line because the body had bled elsewhere.

[Dr. Watson]

Of course everything fits together. But, but where was the body placed on the train?

[Sherlock Holmes]

I think I can make a fair guess of that, my dear Watson. Ah, here we are. This is the famous official villa of Sir James Walter. And that, if I'm not mistaken, is his brother, Colonel Valentine just coming out of the house.

[Dr. Watson]

What's the matter with the man? He looks possibly haunted.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh, pardon me, Colonel Valentine, but can you tell me if, if Sir James is at home?

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Sir James, sir.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Sir James is dead. Good heavens.

[Dr. Watson]

Dead?

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

He died this morning. It's terrible, terrible.

[Sherlock Holmes]

How did he die?

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Oh, it's this horrible scandal. My brother sir was very sensitive of his honor. He couldn't survive the disgrace to his department. It broke his heart. Pardon me gentlemen, I must go.

[Dr. Watson]

It broke his heart. Most appalling development, hey Holmes?

[Sherlock Holmes]

I wonder if his death was natural or if the poor fellow killed himself?

[Violet Westbury]

Yes.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Will you tell Miss Westbread Mr. Sherlock Holmes would like to see her?

[Violet Westbury]

Oh, please come in, gentlemen. I'm Violet Westbury, Mr. Holmes. I've been expecting you ever since I heard you had taken the case. Please be seated.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Thank you.

[Violet Westbury]

Oh, Mr. Holmes, we, we must save his good name. He couldn't have done it. Cadogan was the most Chivalrous, patriotic gentleman on earth. He couldn't have done it. He would have cut his right hand off rather than sell a state secret.

[Sherlock Holmes]

But the facts, my dear Ms. Westbury.

[Violet Westbury]

I admit I can't explain them.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Was he in need of money?

[Violet Westbury]

No Mr. Holmes, his needs were simple. And his salary very good. He'd saved several hundred pounds. We were to be married at the New Year.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I see. Had you noticed any signs of mental excitement?

[Dr. Watson]

Why?

[Violet Westbury]

Well that is.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Come Ms. Westbury, be frank with us.

[Violet Westbury]

Yes, Mr. Holmes. That night I. I had a feeling that there was something on his mind.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Tell us about it, will you?

[Violet Westbury]

We were on the way to the theater. It was a foggy night, you remember. We were walking slowly. Our way took us close to his office. Cadogan seemed thoughtful and worried. Darling, what's the matter? You haven't said a word for the last five minutes. Have I said or done something?

[Cadogan West]

Of course not silly. It's just that I've got something on my mind.

[Violet Westbury]

Why not tell me about it? Perhaps I can help.

[Cadogan West]

It's no use Vi. It's too serious for me to talk about, even to you.

[Violet Westbury]

You know sometimes, Caddy, I feel just the least little bit jealous of that old job of yours when you're cooped up in that building all day.

[Cadogan West]

Now you're not going to be jealous of a building.

[Violet Westbury]

Well, not really. But it is funny to think of a husband having secrets he can't tell his wife.

[Cadogan West]

Mighty important secrets I can promise you. There's one in particular that any foreign spy would pay good money to get hold of.

[Violet Westbury]

How thrilling.

[Cadogan West]

Well I don't know. They're awfully slack about some things over there in that building.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Valet. What's too slack?

[Cadogan West]

It would be too confounded easy for a trader to get his hands on those plans.

[Violet Westbury]

What plan?

[Cadogan West]

Never mind darling. I guess I'm getting a bit melodramatic. There's something been worrying me.

[Dr. Watson]

Hello.

[Cadogan West]

What's that?

[Violet Westbury]

What's what?

[Cadogan West]

Over there. That shadow moving along the side of the building.

[Sherlock Holmes]

It's a man.

[Dr. Watson]

So that's it.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

I always suspected.

[Violet Westbury]

What's the matter? You're so excited. What's wrong?

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Stay here Violet.

[Cadogan West]

There's something I have to find out.

[Dr. Watson]

Stay here.

[Violet Westbury]

I waited and waited but he never returned. Oh Mr. Holmes, if you could only save his honor. It meant so much to him.

[Sherlock Holmes]

We shall do our best Ms. Westbrook. This shadow, this man moving along the building. Did you see it too?

[Violet Westbury]

I think I did Mr. Holmes, but the night was so foggy I can't be sure. But there must have been a man, Another man. It couldn't have been Cadogan, surely? Character goes for something.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Let us hope so. Come along, Watson, we must return home. I'm expecting an answer to some telegrams I sent Mycroft earlier this afternoon. We've done enough for one day.

[Dr. Watson]

Holmes. Where have you been all day? You left this morning while I was up. Now you've come home with your towel or I your suit torn and as ravenous as a wolf.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes, I've had a bit of exercise, my dear Watson, pass me the tongue, will you? If it have done you good to go along, yes.

[Dr. Watson]

What were you doing?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Investigating the premises inhabited by foreign spies known to have been in London on last Monday. Mycroft sent me a list of them. Took a bit of doing too. Climbing walls, breaking into cellars, prowling around rooftops. I discovered there was only one residence which had the proper facilities for disposing of West's body after the murder.

[Dr. Watson]

Whose residence was that?

[Sherlock Holmes]

It belongs to a Hugo Oberstein. The address is 13 Caulfield Gardens, Kensington. The gentleman himself has departed for Europe.

[Dr. Watson]

Gone, has he? He took the plans with him.

[Mycroft Holmes]

It's.

[Dr. Watson]

It's too late.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Not necessarily, Watson.

[Dr. Watson]

What can we do now?

[Sherlock Holmes]

We're going to keep a rendezvous with a gentleman who stole and sold those plans. The assignation will take place at Mr. Oberstein's house this evening at 9.

[Dr. Watson]

What the deuce are you talking about?

[Sherlock Holmes]

These newspaper clippings. I found them in the drawer of Hugo Oberstein's desk. Read them.

[Dr. Watson]

The Daily Telegraph. Agony column. First one says too complex for description. Must have full report. Terms agreed to payable when goods delivered. Signed Piro. Piro indeed. Sounds like a Mardi Gras.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Now read on, Watson, read on.

[Dr. Watson]

Second goes, matter presses must withdraw for unless contract completed. Piero again.

[Sherlock Holmes]

And the last dated Monday, the day the crime is committed.

[Dr. Watson]

Monday night after 9. 2 taps. Payment in hard cash. I say, do you think it was a submarine? That the plans that he was buying?

[Sherlock Holmes]

I'm almost positive. And Pierrot was Oberstein himself. But we'll find out for certain this evening. I've invited the gentleman who sold the papers to meet us. How?

[Dr. Watson]

I don't understand.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Inserted this advertisement in today's Daily Telegraph. Tonight, same hour, same place, two taps. Vitally important, your own safety at stake. Signed Pierrot, as usual.

[Dr. Watson]

By George, if he answers that we. We've got him.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Unless we're too late. Come on, Watson, there's no time to lose. You can take this passage package for a change. I'll. I've been carrying it around all day.

[Dr. Watson]

What's in it?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh, just a jimmy, a dark lantern, a chisel and a revolver.

[Dr. Watson]

Nice equipment for a respectable citizen to be carrying about the streets of London. I must. Yeah.

[Sherlock Holmes]

You know, Watson, there are times when I suspect we aren't quite respectable. Here we are. This is Coffee Gardens.

[Dr. Watson]

Shouldn't like to be caught in the act of housebreaking.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yeah. Oh, this wall, Watson. There's a window we can easily pry open in the back.

[Dr. Watson]

Scale that wall.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Come on, hurry up, hurry up. There's no time to lose. Here. Here, I'll give you a boost. Come on, up here. That's it. Look out. Here I come.

[Dr. Watson]

I must say, Holmes, you're as agile as a cat. It's uncanny.

[Sherlock Holmes]

This is the window. Light the lantern and give me the Jimmy. One, two.

[Dr. Watson]

Mr. Holmes, the underground runs right past here. Almost on the level of these windows. I could have reached out and touched it.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes, quite convenient, wasn't it? Because here the body was placed on the roof of a train. Now, at this look on this windowsill, you can see the soot is blurred with the rest of the body. And here, look here, look, look. This brown stain is blood.

[Dr. Watson]

Enough steering. Let's see. Let's get on to the house.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Very well then. Come along, come along. The window's open. Easy, easy. Don't break the glass.

[Dr. Watson]

Supposing old Fustin should happen to return home.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Well, we must take our chances in this business.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Come along, Watson.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Come along. My visitor will expect to be let in by the front door.

[Dr. Watson]

I wish these chairs didn't didn't squeak so.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Nine o'. Clock. We can expect him at any moment. Now, you take your position on one side of the door, I'll be on the other. We can pounce on him when he enters. I'll throw my greatcoat over his head. I wish he'd hurry.

[Dr. Watson]

Shh. Watson, what if he doesn't come?

[Sherlock Holmes]

There he is. Ready now. I'll open the door.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

You wanted me?

[Dr. Watson]

No, you don't. Take that.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Easy, Watson, easy.

[Dr. Watson]

All right, Holmes, I've got him.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Well, let's take a look at our catch. Take the overcoat away, Watson. Right.

[Dr. Watson]

Hi, it's Colonel Valentine Walker Walter, Sir James's brother.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Quite well, son. What have you to say for yourself? Why did you steal the Bruce Partington plans?

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Oh, you. What do you know about this?

[Sherlock Holmes]

I am Sherlock Holmes and I know everything.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Oh, this is terrible. I'm lost. I didn't realize their importance until my brother killed himself. But I needed the money. I had to have it. Oberstein offered to give it to me if I'd let him see the plans.

[Sherlock Holmes]

So you took an impression of your brother's key, opened the safe and procured the papers. Cadogan west saw you leaving the building, followed you here and you killed him.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

No, I didn't do that. I swear I didn't do it.

[Sherlock Holmes]

No? Then perhaps you better tell us who did murder Cadogan west and placed him on the roof of the railway carriage.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

I'll tell you. I promise you I will.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I did the rest.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

I confess it, but. But not that.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Very well. Then. How did it happen?

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

I got the papers, as you've discovered. Made my way through the fog until I reached the door. Once or twice I fancied I was being followed. I could hear footsteps on the pavement behind me.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Colonel Walder?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes. You have the papers?

[Dr. Watson]

Yes.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

Let me in, quick. I think someone's been following me.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes, it's me.

[Cadogan West]

You can't do this, Valentine.

[Dr. Watson]

It's treason.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Hurray.

[Narrator]

Do you hear?

[Dr. Watson]

No.

[Sherlock Holmes]

You can't sell the papers.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Papa Overstein, he knows how to use a blackjack, eh?

[Violet Westbury]

You.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

You've killed him.

[Sherlock Holmes]

So it's murder.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

I gotta get out of this.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Oh, no, I think different. You will come in here if you do not wish to taste a blackjack too.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

But I, I.

[Mycroft Holmes]

That is better.

[Supporting Character (e.g., Porter or Guard)]

What can we do?

[Dr. Watson]

They'll find the body.

[Mycroft Holmes]

I have an idea. First I look at those pavers. I take the ones I want and the rest you put in the pocket of this foolish young man. And then we give him a nice ride on top of the underground train. No. He will be the guilty one. Who will ever know?

[Narrator]

What a thoroughly unpleasant gentleman. What a pity that he got away with the papers, Dr. Watson.

[Dr. Watson]

No, but he didn't. Overstein had left a Paris forwarding address with Colonel Walters. That gentleman sent him a letter dictated by Holmes saying that he had discovered that one essential detail in the plans was missing and that he had procured a tracing which would make it complete for a price.

[Narrator]

And did Oberstein swallow the bait?

[Dr. Watson]

Did he swallow it? He was arrested as he got off the boat at Folkestone some weeks later. I learned incidentally that Holmes had spent a day at Windsor Castle and returned with a remarkably fine emerald tie pin. When I asked him where he got it, he answered it was just a small present from a certain gracious little old lady for whom he'd been able to do a small favor.

[Narrator]

Yes, and I think I can guess the lady's August name.

[Dr. Watson]

Elementary, my dear Mr. Manning. Elementary.

[Narrator]

I see. Ladies and gentlemen, in just a moment, Dr. Watson will be back to tell us about next week's story. In the meantime, let us repeat, watch out for colds. At the first sign of a cold, take Grove's Bromo quinine tablets. Bromo quinine tablets are made especially for the relief of colds. In other words, they're specialized medication. And that's what you want?

[Sherlock Holmes]

Yes.

[Narrator]

At the very first sneeze or sniffle, go right to your druggist and get a package of Groves Bromo quinine tablets. Now, Dr. Watson, next week.

[Dr. Watson]

Next week I think I'll tell you the story of the lion's mane.

[Narrator]

The lion's mane. What was that, Dr. Watson?

[Dr. Watson]

The answer to that question, Mr. Manning, almost stumped Sherlock Holmes himself. Suffice it to say that they were the last words gasped out by a dying man as he lay writhing in agony on the sands of the Sussex coast.

[Narrator]

You have been listening to a Sherlock Holmes adventure, adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's story, the Bruce Partington Plans. With Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. The dramatization was by Edith Miser. This program is presented from Hollywood every week at this same time by the makers of Groves Bromo quinine tablets. Quick relief.

[Dr. Watson]

Four coals.

[Narrator]

This is Knox Manning speaking. This is the National Broadcasting Company.