AustLit

'This is a crime story from the files of the Yorkshire C.I.D. - a story in which the audience is invited to hunt the clue which finally led to the arrest of the criminal.

'A woman, passing along her street in a small Yorkshire town is astonished to see her neighbour's furniture being moved away in a van. The man in charge of moving tells her the owners have decided to sell their belongings and leave the district. Suspicious, the woman informs the C.I.D. - and thus begins a case which made Detective Inspector Hill famous in official circles. Hill eventually finds the man responsible for selling the furniture, and is confronted with an amazing confession, involving a murder and an alleged killing in self-defence. Hill, however, is sure a double murder has been comitted [sic] - and eventually proves this. The clue which clinches his case is the one which the audience is asked to find.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'This is a case from the files of the French Surete, and one in which the detective concerned had to prove one man innocent in order to prove another guilty. Again, the audience is invited to hunt the virtual clue.

'Henri Chantrelle murders Jeanne Printemps. His twin brother, who is excessively devoted to him, then concocts an outrageous method of defeating the law. The plan is one which could well render the law powerless - even though the murder's [sic] identity is known. However, there is one tiny flaw in the brothers' tale. Inspector Laurent finds it - and the audience is asked to find it also.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Was Laura Tottenham's death a tragic accident, or was it murder? This is the puzzle set in the CRIME CLUB STORY - 'Dear Laura'. Together with Detective Inspector McIntyre, the audience can unravel the tale of passion and greed which culminated in violent death in the Scottish Highlands.

'There is one single clue which tells the nature of Laura's death. Again, the audience is asked to find that clue and solve the mystery.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'A woman in murdered in Le Havre; brutally beaten to death and robbed. In spite of all their efforts, the French police are unable to find a clue which will help them in their search for the guilty person. At last, the Prefect asks Professor Weiss, a well-known Swiss lecturer in Criminology, who is holidaying in the area, to assist them.

'Faced with the task of using in a practical way the theories and methods he teaches, Weiss sets out to build up a picture of the appearance of the killer. As he investigates, his attention is arrested by a series of clues which lead him to the belief that the person he seeks can be identified by one outstanding feature. As they listen, the audience is invited to discover just what this feature is.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Did someone once say the law has a long arm? This true CRIME CLUB story proves how terribly relentless is the brain controlling that arm. Here is a story in which no single clue dramatically clinches the case. Success comes only after painstaking, patient work, because when Dagmar Peters' body is found, there are no clues at all to suggest who has killer [sic] her or why.

'Inspector Robert Henry Fabian begins his investigation with literally nothing to help him; yet, in the end, he solves the Case of the Yellow Handbag.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Because he looked more like a Hollywood version of a big business executive than a policeman, Detective John J. Morrisey of the New York Central Police was affectionately known as "The Banker". With a background of many years in crime detection in New York, Morrisey was assigned to the investigation of the murder which had taken place in "The Green Parrot" cafe and bar one Sunday afternoon in 1942.

'The facts of the case read almost like a work of fiction. A man walked into the cafe, shot the proprietor dead, and walked out. No-one had tried to interfere and although there were twenty witnesses to the killing which had taken place in broad daylight, no-one could describe the gunman. The Police were at their wits end when Morrisey was called in, but his unorthodox solving of the crime made this case unique in the annals of detection.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'When Vital Delarge was buried, a strange thing happened: a solitary mourner laughed as the coffin was lowered into the grave. Did he laugh in triumph - or was it genuine amusement? Was the mourner a murderer also, or was he ...

'But exactly what he was is the subject of "The Happy Funeral" ... another crime which members of the audience can try to solve. And it's a crime with a difference - and not without a touch of humour.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'During the war years, in England, certain divisions of the American Army were stationed in London; there was, amongst them, a small proportion of men who were criminals and gangsters; ready to seize the opportunities offered by a country which was, in many ways, slower and more law-abiding than their own. One such G.I. was Erich Gustav Ludwig. "The Killer in the Cab" is the story of his brief association with a young girl of eighteen, Gwennie Williams. Their friendship lasted about ten days, and in that brief period they committed one attempted murder, one successful murder, and several petty crimes.

'Through a slip made by Ludwig during his questioning by Inspector Collins, Gwennie Williams and he were both charged, tried, and found guilty of murder. Ludwig was hanged on his 23rd birthday, and Gwennie Williams, having had her sentence of death commuted to penal servitude for life, is probably still languishing in gaol.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Two bodies - a man and a woman - are found in the white mud of McKay Bay in Tampa, Florida, U.S.A. For several weeks, detective are unable to even establish the identity of the murdered people. But when they do, a suspect is found immediately. And while they are checking the movements of the suspect, the detectives discover the clue which reveals the murderer to them.

'The solution to "The Two White Graves" is unusual and startling. As in other CRIME CLUB episodes, the audience is given the chance of solving the case exactly as did the detectives who actually handled the case.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Who tried to poison the Switherton family? What was the motive? Was the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Switherton died part of a terrible plan - or was it an error? These are some of the questions which arise in "Murder in Error", a new episode in the series, "The Crime Club".

'"Murder in Error" is an exciting story which begins with a seemingly motiveless crime and ends with a will which can mean a fortune or prison to the beneficiary. As the detective pursues the murderer, the audience is asked to gather the clue which will eventually enable them to solve the crime.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'In this true story we meet Detective Nick Looram of the New York Central Police, who is given the job of solving a murder that made world headlines ... the brutal killing of glamorous [sic] society girl, Patricia Burton Thomas, heiress to a seven million dollar fortune. There were three suspects ... a United States Marine Captain, a self styled Count and a Canadian Air Force Officer, the husband of the dead girl. Through a maze of strange clues, which included a missing uniform, a lost exercising dumbell [sic] and scrambled eggs, which were emptied into a desk drawer, Detective Looram is able to find his way and break the seemingly water-tight alibi of the murderer.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

Note: As with other episodes of The Crime Club, the details of the crime (especially names) have been modified for this version. This is an account of the 1943 murder of Patricia Burton Lonergan: her husband Wayne Lonergan (a Canadian Royal Air Force cadet) was convicted of second-degree murder.

'Who killed Anton Bartouche? Was it a human being - or was it the outlaw horse he was trying to tame? Set in Alsace, this is not only a story of a murder, but a story of a strange friendship which grew up between a childless woman and an orphan - a friendship which leads to disaster.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'This case features an almost-perfect crime, and illustrates the misapprehensions which sometimes arise about the so-called negative value of circumstantial evidence.

'When a young Chinese couple arrived at a Hotel in the Lake District for their honeymoon, they appeared to their fellow-guests to be happy newly-weds, content in their own company and their plans to settle in America, where the husband, Shan Pao, was studying medicine. But shortly afterwards, the wife - Fa Fai - was found brutally murdered in the woods by the Lake, and although the murderer's identity was overwhelmingly evident, his care to avoid any slip and the complete absence of witnesses to his movements presented Inspector Verity with a ticklish problem - until one small inconsistency in his very plausible story led to his arrest and conviction.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

Note: As with other episodes of The Crime Club, some details have been modified in the version. The actual murder did take place in the Lake District (in 1928), but the victim's husband (named Chung Yi Mao) was trained as a lawyer, not a doctor.

'The Case of the Confused Witness deals with a comparatively recent murder committed in Chicago, U.S.A. The victim of this jealousy killing was an attractive young married woman, Josephine Keller.

'Lieutenant Victor Gabriel, of the Homicide Division, narrowed the field of suspects down to three men, one of whom was the victim's husband, Warren Keller. The police case depended largely on the evidence of a woman who heard the fatal shot fired, and saw a man running away from the Keller apartment immediately afterwards. Yet only when her apparently reliable testimony was put to an unusually thorough and practical test by Lieutenant Gabriel, was an innocent man cleared and the guilty one persuaded to make a statement. "CRIME CLUB" audiences are invited once more to find the clue which helped Lieutenant Gabriel to find the true criminal.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'For more than a year, a murderer slowly and painfully kills his wife, ignoring every call made on his human sympathy. This is the plot of the story "The Poison Cup", an episode in the series "THE CRIME CLUB". This crime is one of the most famous in the annals of Scotland Yard - and the audience is asked to solve it as did the detective in charge of the case.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

Note: This episode draws on Herbert Rowse Armstrong's murder (in Hay-on-Wye) of his wife Kitty, who was poisoned with arsenic over a period stretching from 1919 to 1921.

'Nineteen thirty-nine ... The Second World War began, and ended six years later. The city of Berlin in Germany became a city divided, a Sector under the control of each of the victorious Powers. This is the background of the CRIME CLUB story "The German Nurse".

'Parts of a dismembered body are found in both the Russian and British sectors. It is the task of the German detective Walter Strumm to solve the case, which he does. But in the process he uncovers a human, dramatic story which could happen nowhere but in an occupied city like Berlin.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'In New York, a few years ago, four men held up an armoured car, killed one of the guards and seriously wounded another. The results of their hold-up proved so unsatisfactory, however, that they quarreled among themselves, killing their leader. Inspector McNear of the New York Police, was allotted the task of tracking down the other three criminals.

'Very little concrete evidence was available, and the investigation was long and tedious, but at last a slip of the tongue gave the Inspector a vital lead in the solution of this true "CRIME CLUB" story.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'This true story took place in Lyons, France. One evening in the year 1951, a payroll truck was held up, six people were killed and eleven other innocent bystanders were wounded. Public indignation was instantly aroused by this brutal killing, and a hunt, involving the public and the entire police force of Lyons, was started. The hold-up car was found at the bottom of a canal, and further investigations led Commissaire David to four men whom he suspected of being the murderers. Their alibi, however, seemed unbreakable.

'"CRIME CLUB" listeners are given the opportunity of following the case step by step with Commissaire David and finding the clue which finally brought the criminals to justice.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'When his wife was brutally battered to death, the circumstantial evidence against Norman Ashe seemed almost conclusive. Everything pointed to the fact that he was a fiendish killer.

'But there was just one clue which Inspector Martin Chester of Scotland Yard could not overlook. Yet it was this one, almost insignificant clue which saved the innocent Norman Ashe from the gallows and brought to justice one of the most brutal killers in the annals of British crime.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

Note: This episode seems to draw on the events of William Herbert Wallace's arrest, trial, conviction, and successful appeal for the murder of his wife Julia, but no other person as subsequently charged with that crime.

'The nightwatchman looked down into the street - to see the face of a dead woman staring up at him. A dark figure was disappearing into the night ... Was that the figure of the killer? The nightwatchman pursued the figure - and thus began the case of "The Lonely Killer" - a new episode in the series "THE CRIME CLUB". The clues which led to the eventual solving of the crime are contained in the story, and the audience is invited to take part.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Early one morning in 1941, Mrs. Ellis Holman, 72 years old, was found dead on the kitchen floor of her home in Brooklyn, New York. When the police began their investigations there was not one single clue or lead which they could follow, and it appeared as if the old lady had committed suicide.

'Inspector Regan, who was in charge of the case, found a clue in Mrs. Holman's diary which led to his bringing Danny Fraser in for questioning. Had Fraser not made one small mistake in one of his answers, it is possible that he would never have been found guilty.

'"CRIME CLUB" listeners are invited to find the one error Fraser made and which sent him to Sing-Sing.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Towards the end of 1945, at Luton, England, the body of a woman was discovered, floating in a sack in the River Lea. Clothing and every possible means of identification had been removed from the body, and the Luton police called in Detective Inspector W. Chapman to take charge of the case.

'There was not one clue by which Inspector Chapman could identify the body, but the actions of a small white fox-terrier gave him a lead by which the murderer was caught.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

Note: This appears to be a version of the murder of Caroline Manton (whose body was found in a sack in the River Lea in 1943), for which her husband Horace Manton was convicted in 1944.

'Is there any more romantic city than Paris in the Spring? Could there be a more incogurous [sic] setting for murder? This episode in the series "THE CRIME CLUB" tells of a murder in Paris in that season. The elements of the story are an old bank messenger who is revealed as a rich man, the laboratories of the Paris police, and the quick wit of a French Detective. And the season - Springtime - plays its part in the crime. The audience is again asked to solve the crime as it was by the real-life detective.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Edward Beecher was twenty-two and good looking. He saw himself as a young man, unfettered and ready to wring fame and fortune from a reluctant world in double quick time. His ambition seemed about to be realized when he became engaged to his wealthy cousin. But things did not quite turn out as he expected, for while he decorously courted her, he amused himself with Marjorie Astor. When Marjorie threatened to disclose their relationship to his fiance, Beecher could see all his carefully laid plans for the future slipping from his grasp, so he callously murdered her, and set about establishing an alibi.

'How Inspector Porter of the Birmingham C.I.D. broke the almost-perfect alibi, and finally convicted "The Lady Killer", is the problem put to "CRIME CLUB" listeners.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'In Paris, January 1869, Monsieur Gustave Mace, Commissaire of Police, was called to Lampons pastry-cook shop in the Rue Princesse, where, in a well in the courtyard, were found two human legs. Other portions of a body were recovered from the River Seine and the Saint Michele canal. The re-assembled body was established to be that of an elderly man named Desire Bodasse.

'With little more than a laundry mark worked on a stocking found on the corpse, Mace, by a brilliant piece of detective work, sheeted home the crime to a Government spy, Pierre Voirbo.

'Mace's work in this case was fully appreciated by the high authorities, and it proved to be a step towards his appointment as Chief of the Surete, the most sought-after position at Headquarters of the French Police.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'The case of "The Eager Killers" was one which raised a public outcry throughout the British Isles. It involved the brutal and needless shooting of a police constable - the last two shots being fired as he lay on the ground, obviously dying.

'This case presented the officer in charge of investigations, Chief-Inspector Parry, with an unusually difficult task, for it was a murder without motive, and without witnesses, so that he had no starting point when pursuing inquiries. His ony lead was the fact that the shooting was possibly the work of one or more professional car thieves, which left him with innumerable potential suspects. Months passed before he narrowed the field down to two men - Thompson and Hancock.

'Even then, one of the men might have escaped with a relatively light prison sentence if Parry's acute mind hadn't registered the weakness in his statement, and led him to take steps which not only proved conclusively that the man was lying, but turned the tables so that he was convicted out of his own mouth.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'One of the famous crimes of the 1860's. The body of Mr. Joshua Brown, an elderly bank official, was found on the railway line between Bow and Hackney Wick; he had been murdered in a compartment of the 9.50 from Fenchurch Street.

'The killer made many stupid errors, the first of which was to exchange the murdered man's watch-chain for a new one at the shop of Mr. John Coffin, a jeweller in Cheapside. Mr. Coffin put the new chain in a box with his name on it; through this box, the Police obtained the name and address of Hermann Richter, a young German tailor.

'When the Police called to interview him, Richter had gone to New York on a sailing ship. The police went by steamer and got there first. When the attempted to arrest him, he claimed immunity as he was in a foreign country and long legal proceedings were necessary before the English Police secured an extradition order. Richter was brought back to England, where the Police put forward enough evidence to convict him. He was publicly executed on November 16th, 1964.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

Note: Although this episode is based on a true story (famous as the first murder on a British train), the specific details have been modified slightly. The victim (murdered, as stated, in the 9.50 train from Fenchurch Street Station on 9 July 1864) was an elderly bank official, but named Thomas Briggs. The man executed for his murder was a German tailor, but named Franz Müller. And the jeweller through which Müller was identified was named John Death.

'When two small girls were murdered, apparently without motive, in the woods near the small English village of Penn, Detective Superintendent George Hetherhill took charge of the investigation.

'The murderer was obviously a soldier from the nearby army camp, but how Superintendent Hatherhill uncovered the actual killer and trapped him into the one mistake which convicted him, makes exciting listening.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'A young English gentlemen is found murdered in a Canadian District near Buffalo, known as the "Devil's Pit". Detective John Murray, Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department, Ontario, finds only one slight clue, and no means of identification. He eventually tracks down the killer from a chance remark of James Ransome, an Englishman travelling with his wife in Canada.

'Then, gradually, Murray unfolded a fantastic story which indicated that the murderer had almost certainly made a practice of luring young men to their deaths - a practice that was only brought to a stop by the determined efforts of the C.I.B. Chief.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'In the United States, nearly a hundred years ago, the battered body of a strange man was found one morning outside the village Church at Edgworth. Several well-to-do residents, infuriated by the incompetence of the local police, decided to employ a Private detective from Pinkerton's famous Agency in New York, with the result that General Superintendent George H. Bangs arrived to take charge of the case. Bangs was faced with a tough assignment since all he had to work on were the initials "A.B." sewn in red cotton on the dead man's shirt, and the Superintendent's conviction that the victim was of German nationality.

'A search of the countryside produced a clue which led to Bangs' cabling the Police in Germany. Acting on their reply, he eventually established the dead man's identity and then set out to find his murderer. This was a long job but at last, accompanied by a Detective from the New York Police Force, Bangs achieved the seemingly impossible when he confronted the killer with irrefutable proof of his guilt.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'When Trina Popolo retired from singing and decided to take a job in Florence, she sold her house and furniture, and before leaving her home town of Correggio, called to visit an old friend, Leonora Cianci, through whose good offices she had obtained her job. In Trina's bag were 35,000 lire, some State bonds and her jewellery.

'Several weeks later, her sister-in-law, Maggio Popolo, became worried about Trina and called on the good-natured Leonora to enquire where she could be found. Something Maggio noticed in Leonora Cinaci's house caused her to go immediately to Commissary Serviao of the Reggio Emilia Police.

'What it was, and what had happened to Trina Popolo will be told in "The Missing Opera Singer" in this series "THE CRIME CLUB".'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'In Paris, in the year 1882, Marcel Ferou, a French Chemist, discovers that his wife is in love with a younger employee, named Louis Courteau. In a fit of jealous rage Ferou plans to kill Courteau and forces his wife to lure Courteau to a country house and to help him with the crime by threatening to kill their children if she does not do so. He also terrifies his brother, Phillipe into helping him.

'Commissaire Gustave Mace is placed in charge of the case and in spite of Ferou's clever bluffing, acquires sufficient evidence to charge him, and secures the conviction of both Ferou and his wife. They are sencenced [sic] to penal servitude for life; the brother Phillipe is acquitted.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'One stormy night in the year 1953, in Lucerne, Switzerland, Maga Birkett stayed rather late at a lake-side wine shop and on her way home met her death in the waters of the Lake.

'When her son-in-law, Carl Kappel, called at the office of Examining Magistrate Werner Kurzmeyer asking for a letter declaring that Maga's death was accidental, so that he could collect 50,000 francs insurance money, he was already suspect on a charge of murder.

'How Magistrate Kurzmeyer produces undeniable proof of Kappel's guilt makes fascinating listening in "The Lake Murder", next in the series "THE CRIME CLUB".'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'This is a true crime story taken from the files of the Royal North-West Mounted Police. It happened in the wild Yukon territory of Canada, around the turn of the century. Three young men, travelling on their way back to civilization, decided to stop at the Mounted Police detachment along the trail for Christmas dinner. On the way there, they simply vanished.

'A young Mounted Police Corporal, acting almost on a hunch, assumed they had been murdered and set out to find the murderer. The way in which he does this provides one of the finest cases of frontier crime detection on record.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'When wealthy middle-aged spinster, Miss Letty Barlow, was approached by Frank Simmons of the Earham Insurance Company, to discuss business matters, he was able to win her confidence to such an extent that she left her lodgings and made her home with Simmons and his wife. It was then an easy matter for Simmons to dispose of the old lady and gain possession of her assets and property.

'How a surprise visit by a distant relative of Miss Barlow's set in motion a chain of events which led to the arrest of the cold-blooded murderer is told in this episode of "THE CRIME CLUB" series.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Harrison Brewster, a wealthy American businessman, is interrupted during a bridge game by two men armed with machine guns. He is kidnapped. Later a ransom of $200,000 is demanded and paid over.

'At no time did Mr. Brewster see his captors, but finally, thanks to his own keen powers of observation and the clever work of the F.B.I., his kidnappers were caught and identified.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'In some respects this is typical of many cases in police files. It is the familiar story of an old man living alone in an isolated spot, and reputed to have his life's savings hidden on the premises - a tempting bait for the small-time crook who doesn't want to tackle anything too risky.

'But on this occasion, when two young men set out to rob Richard Billings, seventy-five-year-old-store-keeper in a Surrey village, the old man was found dead the next day. Although his death as a result of carelessness on the part of his attackers was unintentional, legally it was murder. However, at first the police had to content themselves with a charge of assault against the two, who had made an earlier and unsuccessful attempt to rob Billings - for there seemed to be no proof that they were responsible for the second, and fatal attempt.

'It was Detective-Superintendent Nisbett of the Surrey C.I.D. who finally caught them out in a slip of the tongue, which eventually lead [sic] them to the gallows.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Was Rebecca Manvell engaged to Anthony Redman when he met his violent fate? This is the question which faces Inspector Post in this new episode of the CRIME CLUB.

'When murder comes to the tiny village of Elmsbury, Post is sent to investigate. Before his investigations have proceeded far, however, a man is charged with the crime. But, to Post's mind, the real solution to the murder lies buried deep in the mind of a proud spinster. But how to prove this?

'Together with Inspector Post, the audience is invited to attempt to solve this fascinating riddle - a dramatisation of a true crime.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'The little graveyard in the village of Hammer, near Frankfort [sic] in Germany, was well known to Marie Lieber. Her three husbands were buried there. Most of the villagers felt sorry for the plump, attractive widow. What they didn't know was that Marie had murdered all three of them. They all thought she was a quiet, churchgoing widow.

'In the next episode of "THE CRIME CLUB", the story of how Marie Lieber murdered her husbands is dramatically told. Also the mistake that finally led her to the gallows. Listen for the "CASE OF THE CHURCH-GOING WIDOW" and see if you can detect her fatal error.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Arthur Peabody was a man with a secret. Outwardly, he was a conventional, respectable clerk. In reality, he was ... what? Before he could charge Peabody with murder, Inspector Faber had to find an answer to this question. That Peabody was a killer, he was sure. Not so much because of a clue he'd left, but because of a clue he hadn't left.

'What this non-existant [sic] clue was is the riddle the audience is asked to solve in "THE SECRET LIFE OF MR PEABODY", the next episode of the series "THE CRIME CLUB".'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'This is the story of the woman who, up to date, can be classified as America's Number-One woman gangster. She was a shrewd and ruthless woman who raised her own four sons to be underworld "big shots" and for years was the brain behind her own gang of thugs and killers.

'The manner in which the F.B.I. finally rounded up the entire gang is far more incredible and hair-raising than fiction could ever be.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Miss Maud Parker, well-to-do and, at 56, reasonably attractive, found romance for the first time in the person of Captain Douglas, whom she met by chance in the shop of her bootmaker. In a matter of weeks the gallant Irish Captain completely won her heart, and they settled down near Newmarket, at the lonely Old Moat Farm.

'After a quarrel with Douglas some time afterwards, Miss Parker disappeared, and it was not until three years later that police suspicion was aroused, and a body found buried in the grounds of the farm. However, there was no evidence that the body was that of Maud Parker, and it was by one clue only that Inspector Marsden identified the body and arrested the killer. The audience is invited to uncover the clue and solve the intriguing puzzle of "A Case of Patience".'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

Note: This is an account of what is colloquially called 'The Moat Farm Murder'. As with other episodes of The Crime Club, some details have been changed: in 1899, Camille Cecile Holland, was shot dead by Sameul Herbert Dougal, with whom she was living (though they were not married) at the Moat Farm in Clavering, Essex. The murder only came to light in 1903, after a succession of forgeries by Dougal of Holland's signature.

'This is an American Police case. A well-liked, respectable woman of Trenton, New Jersey, frantically rings the police to say her husband has been murdered. She claims he has been shot by two burglars who broke into the house and tied and gagged her. After following several false clues, and making some brilliant deductions, detectives put their fingers on the murderer.'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'Robert Plant is hard, selfish, disagreeable - but even so, he has a right to live. On Christmas Eve, 1949, suspecting that someone intended to injure him, he asks a girl friend, Joan Power, to ring him at his office at regular intervals, but despite this precaution, Robert Plant dies. To police questioning, his wife and sons present what seem to be unshakeable alibis - and yet why does Inspector Lindsay Banks, of the New South Wales Police Force, show more than ordinary interest in the nicotine stains on the boys' fingers? Once again, Members of "The Crime Club" are assured of enthralling listening as Inspector Blake unravels the case of "The Happy Family".'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'When Constable Anderson is called in to investigate the death of Mrs. Evie Trotter, he remarks to Detective-Sergeant Fuller that her husband seems to be "a pretty decent sort of chap". Besides, Mrs. Trotter has left a suicide note on the kitchen table under the shopping list. However, statistics inform us that among suicide victims there are only a very small percentage of women under thirty, with children. Now, Detective-Sergeant Fuller is a great believer in statistics, and so he feels that he cannot drop what seems to be an open-and-shut case of suicide. What happens as a result of his belief is the surprising climax to "A Case of Suicide".'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.

'The story of "A Basket of Fruit" took place many years ago in the small village of Weinegan, about 50 miles from Vienna. Hans Frutcher, gay and profligate, has enjoyed himself with Christina Muller at the expense of her betrothed, Michel Sachs, a stolid fruit farmer. Christina, heart-broken when Hans refuses to marry her, kills herself, and Michel, about to avenge her death, finds himself baulked when Hans is taken to gaol for horse-stealing. Just how significant is the gift of beautiful apples in this intriguing tale of murder? Listeners to "The Crime Club" are given the opportunity of solving the problem that confronts Kommandant Kurtz in the very ingenious puzzle of "A Basket of Fruit".'

Source: Episodic synopsis held in the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection.