In this thrilling episode, we dive into the mystery classic "My Adventure in Norfolk" by AJ Allen, featuring the legendary Sir Ralph Richardson. The story unfolds with a couple's journey to a remote bungalow in Norfolk, where they encounter unexpected guests and a chilling mystery. As the snow falls heavily, the protagonist finds himself embroiled in a strange adventure involving a broken-down car, a mysterious woman, and a shocking discovery in the garage. The suspense builds as the protagonist navigates through a series of eerie events, leading to a startling revelation that ties the past to the present.
Join us as we unravel the layers of this gripping tale, exploring themes of deception, intrigue, and the supernatural. With a blend of atmospheric storytelling and captivating performances, "My Adventure in Norfolk" keeps listeners on the edge of their seats. Discover how a seemingly ordinary trip turns into a haunting experience, leaving the protagonist questioning reality and the nature of the events he witnessed. Don't miss this classic mystery that promises to captivate and entertain.
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[00:00:00]
Unknown:
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[00:00:28] Unknown:
It's mystery time. Time now for the best in mystery. Tonight, mystery classic stars sir Ralph Richardson in my adventure in Norfolk. Sir Ralph Richardson. And mystery time presents him now transcribed in the adventure classic, My Adventure in Norfolk by AJ Allen.
[00:01:15] Unknown:
Well, I don't know how it is with you, but four or five weeks after the new year, my wife always says to me, have you thought about where we shall go in August? And, of course, I always say no. And then she starts looking through advertisements of bungalows to let. Well, it happened last year as usual, and I had forgotten all about it, as usual, until one very foul morning in February. It was snowing like a barnstorm's production of East Linn. Margaret looked up from her left as a breakfast and said I think it's the very place. Uh-huh. The man seems very civil too. Oh, good. You know, if you ask me, the government will never get this new bill through. It's in Norfolk, a place called Hickling Broad.
What is? This
[00:02:08] Unknown:
bungalow, of course, I told you. It's furnished too with boathouse, garden, and garage. That seems hardly possible. And played in Milan. He says we can go and see it and stay the night. He'll arrange for a woman to come in and oblige. Oh, just a minute.
[00:02:24] Unknown:
I remember now. Isn't that the place with the exorbitant
[00:02:27] Unknown:
rent? Yes. But you'll have to talk to him about that. He's bound to come down. They always do. My experience is they always don't. You're never firm enough.
[00:02:37] Unknown:
Anyway, we can go down on Thursday and stay the night. What? In this weather?
[00:02:41] Unknown:
It may be beautiful by then. You know what the weather is this time of year.
[00:02:58] Unknown:
Between then and Thursday, the weather did everything it does at any time of the year. But when the train battled its way into Potahirme Station and we stood shivering on the platform, it was settled again, snowing hard. Fortunately, the car I'd ordered was waiting, and the five mile drive to the bungalow, which seemed to be in the most desolate spot on earth, was accomplished with no more than average hazard. I was apprehensive in case the woman who was to oblige should have proved disobliging, but my fears were groundless. Although it was late and dark when we arrived, we found fires burning, and she'd even cooked us a stake a piece.
[00:03:45] Unknown:
And so if you're sure you'll be alright now, sir, I'll be getting along home. I can catch the lost bus at the top of the lane. Oh, thank you, missus Olsen. Oh, we'll be quite happy now. Oh, that's takes. Alright. I asked them, would you just pick it out special? Oh, very nice. Thanks. It's,
[00:04:02] Unknown:
nice, probably, neat sharpening.
[00:04:04] Unknown:
I'd stay if my husband was alright, but it was a nasty operation. And if I denied it, I'd be a liar. If I was to tell you what they've done to him, ma'am, you'd all be beneath me. I'm sure it must have been very trying. Well, if you must go, missus Elston. Missy. That's what it was. And the dressings. Why, every night I have to are you sure that steaks nice, ma'am? You've hardly touched it. I I don't think I feel very hungry after all. Now look here. We mustn't let you miss your boss, missus Seston.
[00:04:36] Unknown:
I I light you to the door. Oh, thank you, sir. You know, I I rather like this oil lamp business for so if it's not so stark as electricity. Right. Not snowing much now, I see. Well, thank you very much for coming in. We'll be seeing you in the morning. That's alright, sir. I can't think why they always refer to that type of woman as homely. Nursing homely would be a better description.
[00:05:02] Unknown:
What? Tired, dear? I am rather. It's been a long day. Yes.
[00:05:06] Unknown:
I think bed's indicated. I tell you what, you go up. There's enough fire left in the bedroom for you to undress by. I'll boil a kettle and bring you out a hot water bottle. Missus Tings left two enormous stone ones in the kitchen. I think I will go up if you don't mind.
[00:05:21] Unknown:
You're almost dreadfully tired quite suddenly.
[00:05:23] Unknown:
I expect to see a reaction after rushing about all day. Yes. And the complete absence of any noise leaves you in a sort of vacuum. This is a quiet place, please. I don't think I've heard a sound since we arrived. Well, that's funny. What is? That car just as I said that. What? Is it a car?
[00:05:46] Unknown:
I didn't hear anything. Oh.
[00:05:49] Unknown:
Perhaps it wasn't then. I'll tell you what is funny. The way we speak of going up to bed. Well, this isn't any up. This is a bungalow. It goes southeast to bed or is it north west? Anyway, off you go, dear. I won't be long with your bottle. When Margaret's had gone, I'd put the kettle over the fire and lit my pipe. The kettle started singing away. And as it hadn't been any competition, it sounded like a mass choir. On one of its downward cadences, I thought I heard the car again. I took the kettle off for a minute to listen, but there was nothing.
Not that it mattered if there had been a car. Did you know the idea when everything's very quiet, how you give every little noise its full value? Well, I put the kettle back and had a look out of the window. It was pretty dark but with that sort of luminous darkness that you get with the snow. And then down the road, beyond the bungalow and behind some trees that bordered the road, I saw a light. I didn't want to bother Margareth. So I crept along the hall and opened the front door quietly.
[00:07:04] Unknown:
What's that?
[00:07:06] Unknown:
Tell your media. I'm just gonna pop out for a minute. Whatever. For? I thought you were coming to bed. Well, I am. Just a tick.
[00:07:14] Unknown:
Just fall apart the nose out first. Don't mind what you're doing. You'll fall into a drift or something.
[00:07:20] Unknown:
Well, actually, I fell into an adventure. I suppose you could call it that. When I got out, the cause of the radiance was obvious. It was the light of a car, one of those square box looking saloons with a flat radiator about the size of a small hotel. What was more interesting was there was a girl tinkering with the engine, quite an attractive girl as far as I could see too. But she was pretty well muffled up with fur, so I couldn't be quite sure. Oh, really?
[00:07:52] Unknown:
Anything I can do? Oh, thank you. I I don't really know what's the matter. It just stopped.
[00:07:58] Unknown:
Smells hot, doesn't it? Are there any water in the radiator?
[00:08:02] Unknown:
No. I expect so. There always is water in radiators, isn't it? Oh, I see your point.
[00:08:08] Unknown:
It depends whether anyone's remembered to put some in. Let's have a look, shall we? I can't see any. By Show. She is hot. No. We we better get some water in there. I can get some from my garage. Couldn't we use snow? Oh, I better not. Hold on, Ajiffy. I'll get a bucket. By the time I got back with a bucket of water, she found a funnel. And so I poured a little water into the radiator. Oh, look out now. Oh. Oh. Oh. Talk about volcanoes. I've even blown the funnel out. Well, let let me see if I can turn the engine over. Well, I couldn't move it. I'll have a go. Oh, cover up, you brute.
Well, there's no go. It's it feels solid. I can't move as an inch. Well, it's no good. I must get on. But my dear girl is miles too anyway. I can't help that. I tell you I've got to
[00:09:22] Unknown:
what's that? What's what? That noise. Listen.
[00:09:28] Unknown:
That's sounds like another vehicle coming. But if it comes this way, you can get a tow or at least a lift to a more acceptable rule. I can see its light. It's a long way off, though. You know, you can see for miles in this flat country. It struck me the girl didn't seem to be as pleased as she ought to have been. As the lights and the sound of the engine caught in the other, she was at first uneasy then plainly scared. Hello there.
[00:10:06] Unknown:
What's up, Carl? Skinny?
[00:10:09] Unknown:
Oh, back down, have you? Well, this lady has. Pretty completely too. She's seized up solid. I mean, the car has.
[00:10:17] Unknown:
I wonder if you could help with a tow or a lift. Well, I'm getting a knowledge. I could give the lady a lift that far if she liked.
[00:10:24] Unknown:
But, what about the car? Well, I tell you what. If you could give me a hand, we could push it into the garage for tonight. There's no car in it. And then, miss, if you could send for it in the morning but not too late though because I'm going to London. I suppose it will have to do. Well, a little gratitude on her part would have been more gracious. Well, a lovely driver whose name turned out to be Williams helped me push the car into the garage and a tough job it was. It was heavy for one thing. The body and the wings were slippery in the snow and ice. The girl made no attempt to help. She just fussed around as though she thought we might run off with a beastly thing. And she seemed a bit calmer when it was safely in with the doors locked. As we walked away from the garage, I suddenly realized how cold it was.
[00:11:07] Unknown:
Safe enough there, miss. No one could start it anyway. Oh, no. Oh, oh, it's cold. You know, you two ought to come in and have a drink before you start. Oh, but No. No. I don't mind if I do that. I won't take a minute. It'll warm you both this way. I'll come in a jiffy, sir. I'd, I bet it will be lolly out in the middle of the road in case anything else comes along. Don't want something at the back of it.
[00:11:26] Unknown:
I took the girl in and sat her by the sitting room fire, and then I went out again to show Williams the way in. I met him by the gate.
[00:11:35] Unknown:
Lady and friend, yours, never seen her before in my life. If you ask me, sir, there's something fishy about her. What's a young lady driving around at night and in this weather alone for?
[00:11:58] Unknown:
I mixed three whiskers in water. There was wasn't any soda. I took my first opportunity to study the girl. Well, she's a bit older than I thought, and she treated us with a lack of friendliness. Well, oh, we've done nothing to deserve it. There's a very hostility and suspicion, which was drink in a rather foolish way in view of the fact that he was to drive her. When he had gone to start the engine, reminded her to send early for the car, and she said she would, and off they went. You sleep, dear? Mhmm.
[00:12:47] Unknown:
No. I I believe I dozed for a minute. Why did you go out?
[00:12:52] Unknown:
Yes. I I thought I heard something when I went down to sea. I was right to it with a car broken down outside and the girl all on her own. I gave her a drink, but she wouldn't stop. She's gone off to Norwich in a lorry. The girl wouldn't stop? Where's her car? We've shoved it in the girl's house.
[00:13:12] Unknown:
You must have been gone for hours. Why didn't you wait me out?
[00:13:16] Unknown:
I told her about it and the way the girl had acted and how she'd been anxious to get away. Then Margaret said something which made me think. I think the whole thing's most peculiar.
[00:13:28] Unknown:
Peculiar?
[00:13:29] Unknown:
Well, funny you should say that. The knowledge I've said was fishy. Look here. Where did she come from? This is an important world, not one you'd normally
[00:13:42] Unknown:
take. No. Unless you were avoiding people.
[00:13:46] Unknown:
If you were driving a stolen car, for instance. A stolen car?
[00:13:50] Unknown:
Well, I never thought of that. You wouldn't. It was a girl. If it was stolen. Fine, Joe. I'm gonna have another look at that car. No. Don't you move. I'll slip out and I'll look at it again. That car may hold the clue to the whole fishy business. It It was very dark outside and so still that the candle I carried burnt without a flicker. It wasn't a large garage, and the car nearly filled it. We backed it in so that it'd be easier to tow out. Not the sort of car I'd pinch. That engine is still warm. Well, I've seen the engine. There are no clues there. If I can squeeze along the wall, I can get a peeping at the back.
Hello? Frosted windows? Oh, no. Of course not. It's rail front. I wonder if there's room to open the door. Of course, it would open away from me. Hey, don't shout your pitting me against the wall. I didn't know anyone was there. God. Heaven. He wasn't pushing. He was as dead as a doornail. When I got over my first shock, I managed to bundle the the body back into the car and and have a look at it. Was the body of a tall man with a mustache and evidently been propped up on the floor against the door so that as soon as I opened the door, it had slumped out. It was tall and thin, dark, dressed in tweeds in a raincoat. No papers in the pocket.
There was a note case with £9 in it. No tailor's name on the clothes. Nothing whatever to give any clueless identity. But it was obvious why he was dead. It was a bullet hole under his right shoulder blade. Someone had shot him from behind, and I guessed the bullet had gone through into the lung. Well, what was I to do? There was no phone in the house. The nearest police station was probably miles away, and I had no transport. Besides, it was marvelous. I couldn't stroll off and leave her alone. There was no night to drag her around with me, around the countryside. In the end, I shut the car door again, carefully locked up the garage, and went to bed.
[00:16:46] Unknown:
What on earth have you been doing? What an age you've been? I'm sorry. Sorry, darling. Sorry. Well, did you find anything?
[00:16:54] Unknown:
Yes. I, I found something in the back of the car. What was it? I found nine pounds.
[00:17:00] Unknown:
Nine pounds? In the back of the car? Yes. In the back of the car, in her wallet. Oh, how extraordinary. She must have forgotten all about it. Yes.
[00:17:10] Unknown:
I wonder if she did.
[00:17:12] Unknown:
Well, how do you mean? I I just wondering.
[00:17:14] Unknown:
What did you do with it? Well, I left it there. I thought it was best. After all, it's none of my business. But there's nothing we can do about it now, is there? No. No. Well, then, let's go to sleep.
[00:17:30] Unknown:
Good night. I'm so tired.
[00:17:44] Unknown:
Next thing I knew, it was board daylight and 9AM. This is Selsun was due at ten, so I tumbled out pretty quickly. I wanted to have another look at the car and the body in daylight. Unfortunately, I think the mention of the £9 had roused my wife's curiosity, and she insisted on coming to the garage with me. Now now look here, dear. I I didn't tell you last night, but well, there's, there's something rather more to this than I said. You'll, you'll have to be prepared for a bit of a shock. A shock? Why?
[00:18:16] Unknown:
What else is there?
[00:18:19] Unknown:
Well, you see the
[00:18:22] Unknown:
But there's no car here at all. The garage is empty.
[00:18:30] Unknown:
I've never had such a shock in my life. No car, no body, nothing. There's a patch of grease on the floor when I dropped the candle, but otherwise, there was nothing to show that I've ever been in there. Another queer thing, there were no wheel marks either in the garage or outside, so it apparently snowed very heavily again and covered them up. It didn't look as though there'd been all that snow. Margaret was inclined to laugh at the whole thing. We went back to the house, and she got some breakfast.
[00:19:03] Unknown:
My belief is that you sat by the fire after I'd gone to bed, dozed, and dreamt the whole thing. There never was any car or girl.
[00:19:13] Unknown:
Wishful thinking probably. And did I dream going out to the garage again and finding the nine pounds? I don't know. But but you must admit that the Wait wait a minute. Look here. The glasses. The glasses? Yes. I said I gave them a drink, didn't I? Well, if the glasses are there, that proves it. I was in that drawing room like a shot. The glasses were there, three of them, just as they'd left them. So I had been right, but I still didn't say anything about the body. The mystery was quite mysterious enough already. Besides, an idea was forming at the back of my mind, and I wasn't ready to talk about it.
[00:19:56] Unknown:
But if there was a car and then a girl came back and took it, how did she do it without waking us? Well, the garage is so close to the house somewhere, not heavy sleepers. She couldn't have done this alone anyway. It wouldn't have started.
[00:20:09] Unknown:
So it had to be either towed or pushed, neither of which could be done by one person.
[00:20:14] Unknown:
What are you gonna do with that glass? Why do you wrap it in your handkerchief? I don't take it away with me.
[00:20:22] Unknown:
Well, I didn't say a word to missus Celestin about our night's fun and games, but I settled up with her. And soon after that, our previously ordered car came to drive us to the station. On the way, I called on the landlord of the bungalow and told him we'd let him know about taking it. Neither Margaret nor I could make up our minds just then whether we wanted to see the place again or not. I had the girl's glass with me carefully packed in that biscuit tin. And when we reached Liverpool Street Taxi? Yes. Alright. Alright.
Scotland Yard. I was lucky. My friend, inspector Gregson, was in. He was even quite pleased to see me. Well, I didn't tell him the story to begin with. It seemed a bit thin in broad daylight. But I brought out the glass, and I asked him if he could test it for prints and I identified them. Well, he was a bit amused, but Gregson's a sport and he knows me. Well, his chaps are all very quick on the job, and it wasn't long before one came back and laid a file on the desk in front of the inspector. Gregson thumbed it through for a bit, and then he looked up and grinned at me. Well, Helen, we know your little lady right enough. I got a picture of her here too. Yeah. Is that the dancehall you're looking for? Yes. That's her bite too. Yes. Who is she? Oh, she's had lots of names at different times, but her last one was Naomi Sterling.
She was in twice for shoplifting, but that was early in her career. Later on, she took up with a leader of a very well known race gang, one of the nastiest pieces of work we've had in this this country. Yeah. There's a picture of him too. Yeah. I heard it. Yes. Good lord. Your body. What? No. It doesn't matter for a minute. No. Go on. What do you know any more about these people? That's quite a bit. This race gang fell foul of another gang and there was a bit of a scrap. Naomi's boyfriend, he was known as Smug, got shot dead in the fight. When Naomi managed to get him away in a car, the car broke down. Somewhere in Norfolk, I believe. But Gregson, look here.
Oh, well, go on. Well, it seems that she left the car and the dead man in a garage belonging to some simple oath that she'd kitted into helping her. Anything to matter, reverend? No. No. Nothing. No. Go on. Go on. Well, she alerted in this garage and got a lift in a blue lorry that was going to Norwich. Only she never got there. Oh, I see. Well, you knew all about this, and you picked her up on the way. No. We didn't. We didn't know about it until afterwards. Apparently, the lawyer was being driven pretty furiously in the snow and had skidded on a bend and hit a wall. Naomi and the driver, a chap named William, were thrown out and ran their heads against the wall. And that, in case you don't know, is a very, very fatal thing to do. Anyhow, it was in their case.
You're gaping like a fish for it. Don't you believe me? Yes. No. I mean, look here, Gregson. I know you chapter pretty smart, but how on earth can you know all this and have it there in black and white? There hasn't been time. It only happened last night. Last night? Last night, my foot. It happened four years ago this February. And the people we are talking about have been dead for four years. Great Scott, Aaron. What's the matter? You look as though you've seen a ghost. And that was the end of my adventure in Norfolk. But just think of it.
I could have stuck to that 9,000.
[00:24:17] Unknown:
Hey, Mike. Glad you could join me for some great seafood. Me too. Wait. Why are you dressed in fishing gear? You said we were going out to catch great seafood. Right? Yes. To Popeyes. Do you even know how to fish? No. I thought you did. Oh, yeah. I could catch pretty good seafood at Popeyes. Let's go. Let Popeyes do the fishing while you enjoy our delicious signature seafood. Get Popeyes flounder fish sandwich or shrimp tackle box before they're gone. Limited time at participating US restaurants.
An Amex card with you on your morning coffee run and earn cash back. On a weekend trip, earn miles. See if you prequalify for an American Express card with no impact on your credit score. Learn more at americanexpress.com/check-4-offers. Your credit score may be impacted if you accept a card. Terms apply.
[00:00:28] Unknown:
It's mystery time. Time now for the best in mystery. Tonight, mystery classic stars sir Ralph Richardson in my adventure in Norfolk. Sir Ralph Richardson. And mystery time presents him now transcribed in the adventure classic, My Adventure in Norfolk by AJ Allen.
[00:01:15] Unknown:
Well, I don't know how it is with you, but four or five weeks after the new year, my wife always says to me, have you thought about where we shall go in August? And, of course, I always say no. And then she starts looking through advertisements of bungalows to let. Well, it happened last year as usual, and I had forgotten all about it, as usual, until one very foul morning in February. It was snowing like a barnstorm's production of East Linn. Margaret looked up from her left as a breakfast and said I think it's the very place. Uh-huh. The man seems very civil too. Oh, good. You know, if you ask me, the government will never get this new bill through. It's in Norfolk, a place called Hickling Broad.
What is? This
[00:02:08] Unknown:
bungalow, of course, I told you. It's furnished too with boathouse, garden, and garage. That seems hardly possible. And played in Milan. He says we can go and see it and stay the night. He'll arrange for a woman to come in and oblige. Oh, just a minute.
[00:02:24] Unknown:
I remember now. Isn't that the place with the exorbitant
[00:02:27] Unknown:
rent? Yes. But you'll have to talk to him about that. He's bound to come down. They always do. My experience is they always don't. You're never firm enough.
[00:02:37] Unknown:
Anyway, we can go down on Thursday and stay the night. What? In this weather?
[00:02:41] Unknown:
It may be beautiful by then. You know what the weather is this time of year.
[00:02:58] Unknown:
Between then and Thursday, the weather did everything it does at any time of the year. But when the train battled its way into Potahirme Station and we stood shivering on the platform, it was settled again, snowing hard. Fortunately, the car I'd ordered was waiting, and the five mile drive to the bungalow, which seemed to be in the most desolate spot on earth, was accomplished with no more than average hazard. I was apprehensive in case the woman who was to oblige should have proved disobliging, but my fears were groundless. Although it was late and dark when we arrived, we found fires burning, and she'd even cooked us a stake a piece.
[00:03:45] Unknown:
And so if you're sure you'll be alright now, sir, I'll be getting along home. I can catch the lost bus at the top of the lane. Oh, thank you, missus Olsen. Oh, we'll be quite happy now. Oh, that's takes. Alright. I asked them, would you just pick it out special? Oh, very nice. Thanks. It's,
[00:04:02] Unknown:
nice, probably, neat sharpening.
[00:04:04] Unknown:
I'd stay if my husband was alright, but it was a nasty operation. And if I denied it, I'd be a liar. If I was to tell you what they've done to him, ma'am, you'd all be beneath me. I'm sure it must have been very trying. Well, if you must go, missus Elston. Missy. That's what it was. And the dressings. Why, every night I have to are you sure that steaks nice, ma'am? You've hardly touched it. I I don't think I feel very hungry after all. Now look here. We mustn't let you miss your boss, missus Seston.
[00:04:36] Unknown:
I I light you to the door. Oh, thank you, sir. You know, I I rather like this oil lamp business for so if it's not so stark as electricity. Right. Not snowing much now, I see. Well, thank you very much for coming in. We'll be seeing you in the morning. That's alright, sir. I can't think why they always refer to that type of woman as homely. Nursing homely would be a better description.
[00:05:02] Unknown:
What? Tired, dear? I am rather. It's been a long day. Yes.
[00:05:06] Unknown:
I think bed's indicated. I tell you what, you go up. There's enough fire left in the bedroom for you to undress by. I'll boil a kettle and bring you out a hot water bottle. Missus Tings left two enormous stone ones in the kitchen. I think I will go up if you don't mind.
[00:05:21] Unknown:
You're almost dreadfully tired quite suddenly.
[00:05:23] Unknown:
I expect to see a reaction after rushing about all day. Yes. And the complete absence of any noise leaves you in a sort of vacuum. This is a quiet place, please. I don't think I've heard a sound since we arrived. Well, that's funny. What is? That car just as I said that. What? Is it a car?
[00:05:46] Unknown:
I didn't hear anything. Oh.
[00:05:49] Unknown:
Perhaps it wasn't then. I'll tell you what is funny. The way we speak of going up to bed. Well, this isn't any up. This is a bungalow. It goes southeast to bed or is it north west? Anyway, off you go, dear. I won't be long with your bottle. When Margaret's had gone, I'd put the kettle over the fire and lit my pipe. The kettle started singing away. And as it hadn't been any competition, it sounded like a mass choir. On one of its downward cadences, I thought I heard the car again. I took the kettle off for a minute to listen, but there was nothing.
Not that it mattered if there had been a car. Did you know the idea when everything's very quiet, how you give every little noise its full value? Well, I put the kettle back and had a look out of the window. It was pretty dark but with that sort of luminous darkness that you get with the snow. And then down the road, beyond the bungalow and behind some trees that bordered the road, I saw a light. I didn't want to bother Margareth. So I crept along the hall and opened the front door quietly.
[00:07:04] Unknown:
What's that?
[00:07:06] Unknown:
Tell your media. I'm just gonna pop out for a minute. Whatever. For? I thought you were coming to bed. Well, I am. Just a tick.
[00:07:14] Unknown:
Just fall apart the nose out first. Don't mind what you're doing. You'll fall into a drift or something.
[00:07:20] Unknown:
Well, actually, I fell into an adventure. I suppose you could call it that. When I got out, the cause of the radiance was obvious. It was the light of a car, one of those square box looking saloons with a flat radiator about the size of a small hotel. What was more interesting was there was a girl tinkering with the engine, quite an attractive girl as far as I could see too. But she was pretty well muffled up with fur, so I couldn't be quite sure. Oh, really?
[00:07:52] Unknown:
Anything I can do? Oh, thank you. I I don't really know what's the matter. It just stopped.
[00:07:58] Unknown:
Smells hot, doesn't it? Are there any water in the radiator?
[00:08:02] Unknown:
No. I expect so. There always is water in radiators, isn't it? Oh, I see your point.
[00:08:08] Unknown:
It depends whether anyone's remembered to put some in. Let's have a look, shall we? I can't see any. By Show. She is hot. No. We we better get some water in there. I can get some from my garage. Couldn't we use snow? Oh, I better not. Hold on, Ajiffy. I'll get a bucket. By the time I got back with a bucket of water, she found a funnel. And so I poured a little water into the radiator. Oh, look out now. Oh. Oh. Oh. Talk about volcanoes. I've even blown the funnel out. Well, let let me see if I can turn the engine over. Well, I couldn't move it. I'll have a go. Oh, cover up, you brute.
Well, there's no go. It's it feels solid. I can't move as an inch. Well, it's no good. I must get on. But my dear girl is miles too anyway. I can't help that. I tell you I've got to
[00:09:22] Unknown:
what's that? What's what? That noise. Listen.
[00:09:28] Unknown:
That's sounds like another vehicle coming. But if it comes this way, you can get a tow or at least a lift to a more acceptable rule. I can see its light. It's a long way off, though. You know, you can see for miles in this flat country. It struck me the girl didn't seem to be as pleased as she ought to have been. As the lights and the sound of the engine caught in the other, she was at first uneasy then plainly scared. Hello there.
[00:10:06] Unknown:
What's up, Carl? Skinny?
[00:10:09] Unknown:
Oh, back down, have you? Well, this lady has. Pretty completely too. She's seized up solid. I mean, the car has.
[00:10:17] Unknown:
I wonder if you could help with a tow or a lift. Well, I'm getting a knowledge. I could give the lady a lift that far if she liked.
[00:10:24] Unknown:
But, what about the car? Well, I tell you what. If you could give me a hand, we could push it into the garage for tonight. There's no car in it. And then, miss, if you could send for it in the morning but not too late though because I'm going to London. I suppose it will have to do. Well, a little gratitude on her part would have been more gracious. Well, a lovely driver whose name turned out to be Williams helped me push the car into the garage and a tough job it was. It was heavy for one thing. The body and the wings were slippery in the snow and ice. The girl made no attempt to help. She just fussed around as though she thought we might run off with a beastly thing. And she seemed a bit calmer when it was safely in with the doors locked. As we walked away from the garage, I suddenly realized how cold it was.
[00:11:07] Unknown:
Safe enough there, miss. No one could start it anyway. Oh, no. Oh, oh, it's cold. You know, you two ought to come in and have a drink before you start. Oh, but No. No. I don't mind if I do that. I won't take a minute. It'll warm you both this way. I'll come in a jiffy, sir. I'd, I bet it will be lolly out in the middle of the road in case anything else comes along. Don't want something at the back of it.
[00:11:26] Unknown:
I took the girl in and sat her by the sitting room fire, and then I went out again to show Williams the way in. I met him by the gate.
[00:11:35] Unknown:
Lady and friend, yours, never seen her before in my life. If you ask me, sir, there's something fishy about her. What's a young lady driving around at night and in this weather alone for?
[00:11:58] Unknown:
I mixed three whiskers in water. There was wasn't any soda. I took my first opportunity to study the girl. Well, she's a bit older than I thought, and she treated us with a lack of friendliness. Well, oh, we've done nothing to deserve it. There's a very hostility and suspicion, which was drink in a rather foolish way in view of the fact that he was to drive her. When he had gone to start the engine, reminded her to send early for the car, and she said she would, and off they went. You sleep, dear? Mhmm.
[00:12:47] Unknown:
No. I I believe I dozed for a minute. Why did you go out?
[00:12:52] Unknown:
Yes. I I thought I heard something when I went down to sea. I was right to it with a car broken down outside and the girl all on her own. I gave her a drink, but she wouldn't stop. She's gone off to Norwich in a lorry. The girl wouldn't stop? Where's her car? We've shoved it in the girl's house.
[00:13:12] Unknown:
You must have been gone for hours. Why didn't you wait me out?
[00:13:16] Unknown:
I told her about it and the way the girl had acted and how she'd been anxious to get away. Then Margaret said something which made me think. I think the whole thing's most peculiar.
[00:13:28] Unknown:
Peculiar?
[00:13:29] Unknown:
Well, funny you should say that. The knowledge I've said was fishy. Look here. Where did she come from? This is an important world, not one you'd normally
[00:13:42] Unknown:
take. No. Unless you were avoiding people.
[00:13:46] Unknown:
If you were driving a stolen car, for instance. A stolen car?
[00:13:50] Unknown:
Well, I never thought of that. You wouldn't. It was a girl. If it was stolen. Fine, Joe. I'm gonna have another look at that car. No. Don't you move. I'll slip out and I'll look at it again. That car may hold the clue to the whole fishy business. It It was very dark outside and so still that the candle I carried burnt without a flicker. It wasn't a large garage, and the car nearly filled it. We backed it in so that it'd be easier to tow out. Not the sort of car I'd pinch. That engine is still warm. Well, I've seen the engine. There are no clues there. If I can squeeze along the wall, I can get a peeping at the back.
Hello? Frosted windows? Oh, no. Of course not. It's rail front. I wonder if there's room to open the door. Of course, it would open away from me. Hey, don't shout your pitting me against the wall. I didn't know anyone was there. God. Heaven. He wasn't pushing. He was as dead as a doornail. When I got over my first shock, I managed to bundle the the body back into the car and and have a look at it. Was the body of a tall man with a mustache and evidently been propped up on the floor against the door so that as soon as I opened the door, it had slumped out. It was tall and thin, dark, dressed in tweeds in a raincoat. No papers in the pocket.
There was a note case with £9 in it. No tailor's name on the clothes. Nothing whatever to give any clueless identity. But it was obvious why he was dead. It was a bullet hole under his right shoulder blade. Someone had shot him from behind, and I guessed the bullet had gone through into the lung. Well, what was I to do? There was no phone in the house. The nearest police station was probably miles away, and I had no transport. Besides, it was marvelous. I couldn't stroll off and leave her alone. There was no night to drag her around with me, around the countryside. In the end, I shut the car door again, carefully locked up the garage, and went to bed.
[00:16:46] Unknown:
What on earth have you been doing? What an age you've been? I'm sorry. Sorry, darling. Sorry. Well, did you find anything?
[00:16:54] Unknown:
Yes. I, I found something in the back of the car. What was it? I found nine pounds.
[00:17:00] Unknown:
Nine pounds? In the back of the car? Yes. In the back of the car, in her wallet. Oh, how extraordinary. She must have forgotten all about it. Yes.
[00:17:10] Unknown:
I wonder if she did.
[00:17:12] Unknown:
Well, how do you mean? I I just wondering.
[00:17:14] Unknown:
What did you do with it? Well, I left it there. I thought it was best. After all, it's none of my business. But there's nothing we can do about it now, is there? No. No. Well, then, let's go to sleep.
[00:17:30] Unknown:
Good night. I'm so tired.
[00:17:44] Unknown:
Next thing I knew, it was board daylight and 9AM. This is Selsun was due at ten, so I tumbled out pretty quickly. I wanted to have another look at the car and the body in daylight. Unfortunately, I think the mention of the £9 had roused my wife's curiosity, and she insisted on coming to the garage with me. Now now look here, dear. I I didn't tell you last night, but well, there's, there's something rather more to this than I said. You'll, you'll have to be prepared for a bit of a shock. A shock? Why?
[00:18:16] Unknown:
What else is there?
[00:18:19] Unknown:
Well, you see the
[00:18:22] Unknown:
But there's no car here at all. The garage is empty.
[00:18:30] Unknown:
I've never had such a shock in my life. No car, no body, nothing. There's a patch of grease on the floor when I dropped the candle, but otherwise, there was nothing to show that I've ever been in there. Another queer thing, there were no wheel marks either in the garage or outside, so it apparently snowed very heavily again and covered them up. It didn't look as though there'd been all that snow. Margaret was inclined to laugh at the whole thing. We went back to the house, and she got some breakfast.
[00:19:03] Unknown:
My belief is that you sat by the fire after I'd gone to bed, dozed, and dreamt the whole thing. There never was any car or girl.
[00:19:13] Unknown:
Wishful thinking probably. And did I dream going out to the garage again and finding the nine pounds? I don't know. But but you must admit that the Wait wait a minute. Look here. The glasses. The glasses? Yes. I said I gave them a drink, didn't I? Well, if the glasses are there, that proves it. I was in that drawing room like a shot. The glasses were there, three of them, just as they'd left them. So I had been right, but I still didn't say anything about the body. The mystery was quite mysterious enough already. Besides, an idea was forming at the back of my mind, and I wasn't ready to talk about it.
[00:19:56] Unknown:
But if there was a car and then a girl came back and took it, how did she do it without waking us? Well, the garage is so close to the house somewhere, not heavy sleepers. She couldn't have done this alone anyway. It wouldn't have started.
[00:20:09] Unknown:
So it had to be either towed or pushed, neither of which could be done by one person.
[00:20:14] Unknown:
What are you gonna do with that glass? Why do you wrap it in your handkerchief? I don't take it away with me.
[00:20:22] Unknown:
Well, I didn't say a word to missus Celestin about our night's fun and games, but I settled up with her. And soon after that, our previously ordered car came to drive us to the station. On the way, I called on the landlord of the bungalow and told him we'd let him know about taking it. Neither Margaret nor I could make up our minds just then whether we wanted to see the place again or not. I had the girl's glass with me carefully packed in that biscuit tin. And when we reached Liverpool Street Taxi? Yes. Alright. Alright.
Scotland Yard. I was lucky. My friend, inspector Gregson, was in. He was even quite pleased to see me. Well, I didn't tell him the story to begin with. It seemed a bit thin in broad daylight. But I brought out the glass, and I asked him if he could test it for prints and I identified them. Well, he was a bit amused, but Gregson's a sport and he knows me. Well, his chaps are all very quick on the job, and it wasn't long before one came back and laid a file on the desk in front of the inspector. Gregson thumbed it through for a bit, and then he looked up and grinned at me. Well, Helen, we know your little lady right enough. I got a picture of her here too. Yeah. Is that the dancehall you're looking for? Yes. That's her bite too. Yes. Who is she? Oh, she's had lots of names at different times, but her last one was Naomi Sterling.
She was in twice for shoplifting, but that was early in her career. Later on, she took up with a leader of a very well known race gang, one of the nastiest pieces of work we've had in this this country. Yeah. There's a picture of him too. Yeah. I heard it. Yes. Good lord. Your body. What? No. It doesn't matter for a minute. No. Go on. What do you know any more about these people? That's quite a bit. This race gang fell foul of another gang and there was a bit of a scrap. Naomi's boyfriend, he was known as Smug, got shot dead in the fight. When Naomi managed to get him away in a car, the car broke down. Somewhere in Norfolk, I believe. But Gregson, look here.
Oh, well, go on. Well, it seems that she left the car and the dead man in a garage belonging to some simple oath that she'd kitted into helping her. Anything to matter, reverend? No. No. Nothing. No. Go on. Go on. Well, she alerted in this garage and got a lift in a blue lorry that was going to Norwich. Only she never got there. Oh, I see. Well, you knew all about this, and you picked her up on the way. No. We didn't. We didn't know about it until afterwards. Apparently, the lawyer was being driven pretty furiously in the snow and had skidded on a bend and hit a wall. Naomi and the driver, a chap named William, were thrown out and ran their heads against the wall. And that, in case you don't know, is a very, very fatal thing to do. Anyhow, it was in their case.
You're gaping like a fish for it. Don't you believe me? Yes. No. I mean, look here, Gregson. I know you chapter pretty smart, but how on earth can you know all this and have it there in black and white? There hasn't been time. It only happened last night. Last night? Last night, my foot. It happened four years ago this February. And the people we are talking about have been dead for four years. Great Scott, Aaron. What's the matter? You look as though you've seen a ghost. And that was the end of my adventure in Norfolk. But just think of it.
I could have stuck to that 9,000.
[00:24:17] Unknown:
Hey, Mike. Glad you could join me for some great seafood. Me too. Wait. Why are you dressed in fishing gear? You said we were going out to catch great seafood. Right? Yes. To Popeyes. Do you even know how to fish? No. I thought you did. Oh, yeah. I could catch pretty good seafood at Popeyes. Let's go. Let Popeyes do the fishing while you enjoy our delicious signature seafood. Get Popeyes flounder fish sandwich or shrimp tackle box before they're gone. Limited time at participating US restaurants.
