Episode 340: The Lost Special

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The mysterious old Radio Listening Society podcast. [00:00:25] Speaker B: Look out. [00:00:27] Speaker A: Welcome to the mysterious old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime, and horror stories from the golden age of Radio. I'm Aaron. [00:00:36] Speaker C: I'm Tim. [00:00:36] Speaker D: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:38] Speaker A: We love mysterious old time radio stories, but do they stand the test of time? That's what we're here to find out. [00:00:44] Speaker C: Today we present an episode of my choosing, the Lost Special from Escape. Escape premiered on CB's radio July 7, 1947, and ran through September 25, 1954. Much like its sibling series suspense, the name of the series told listeners what to expect. While suspense presented primarily edge of your seat thrillers, Escape told stories of adventures set in strange and exotic lands. [00:01:06] Speaker D: The Lost Special is an adaptation of a mystery story written by Arthur Conan Doyle that does not feature his famous detective Sherlock Holmes as the main character, although there's more to be said about that after we listen to the episode published in the Strand magazine in August 1898. This was one of many mysteries Doyle wrote that did not include his most famous creation. [00:01:31] Speaker A: The story and the mystery it describes has been adapted many times in various media and has become a trope used by many other subsequent works, including an adaptation by suspense in 1943, which predates this version by six years. [00:01:46] Speaker C: And now let's listen to the Lost special from Escape, first broadcast February 12, 1949. [00:01:53] Speaker D: It's late at night, and a chill has set in. You're alone and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio. Listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to. [00:02:07] Speaker E: The voices fed up with the everyday grind, tired out by the dull routine. Want to get away from it all? [00:02:19] Speaker F: We offer you escape. Escape designed to free you from the four walls of. Today, for a half hour of high adventure. [00:02:34] Speaker E: You are speeding through the english countryside, the fast express train rocking beneath your feet, and you know that somewhere in the dark ahead of you, a band of men are plotting the destruction of the train, are planning the moment of your death. [00:03:02] Speaker F: Today we escape to England at the turn of the century and the story of a complete train that vanished from the face of the earth. As Sir Arthur Conan Doyle told it in his fascinating tale, the Lost Special. [00:03:27] Speaker B: 20 years with Scotland Yard have brought me into contact with many weird and unusual events in human affairs, but none more strange than the occurrences which began on the afternoon of June 3, 1890, in the railway station at Liverpool. On no case before had I ever felt myself so helpless, groping blindly, as it were, for an unseen adversary, not being certain of the nature of the crime, not even knowing, in fact, if it were a crime. Suffice to say that along a short stretch of railway line in western England I learned what is truly meant by terror of the unknown. At 04:00 of the afternoon in question, having completed a rather minor investigation which had brought me to Liverpool, I was sitting in the waiting room of the railway station, reading and waiting for the 06:00 train for London, entirely unaware at that moment of a rather ordinary conversation that was taking place in the office of Mister James Bland, the station master, a few yards away. [00:04:31] Speaker G: I'm very happy to know you Mister Carleton. And you Mister Gomez. And now if I might learn the nature of your wishes. Simply this Mister bland. My companion and I have arrived on the steamer from Central America which docked less than an hour ago. It is of the utmost importance that we reach London as quickly as possible in order to arrange passage across the channel to France. I see. Well it's unfortunate you missed the 03:00 train, Mister Carotle. However, there'll be a limited leaving at six that will put you in London. That is not soon enough, Mister Bland. I cannot stress too highly the importance of my reaching Paris at the earliest possible moment. I can understand that, but there simply isn't any other train in. Quite so, quite so. I am informed however that it is possible to charter a special train upon occasion. A special? Yes, it's possible. Rather expensive though. The cost is not important. Mister Bland, how soon can the arrangements be made? Well Mister Hood, do we have an engine available? [00:05:24] Speaker B: Yes sir. Number 247 is on the north siding under emergency steam. [00:05:28] Speaker G: Good. Very well Mister Caritle. It's 04:08 now we can roll a special out of here at 430. The charges 55 pounds. Gomez, you will pay Mister Bland 55 pounds. Who is on the standby crew? Mister Hood. [00:05:41] Speaker B: Let's see. John Slater as engineer, Macpherson guard and Smith fireman. [00:05:47] Speaker G: Call them at once. Have them carry two standard coaches behind the engine and telegraph the station master at St. Helens to hold the local on siding there until the special goes through. Make sure the line is clear as far as Manchester. [00:05:59] Speaker B: Yes sir. [00:06:00] Speaker G: I'll send for a porter to take care of your briefcase Mister Carritl. It seems to be rather heavy. Thank you, no, I prefer to keep it with me if you don't mind. Certainly. Whatever you wish. Now if you leave here at 430 you should be in Manchester at quarter till six. The station master there will clear you on to London and I trust you'll have a very pleasant journey. [00:06:26] Speaker B: As I say, I was not aware of these events until a while later. And would have placed no significance on them. In any case, at 431 the special train with its two passengers and three crew members pulled out of Liverpool station and headed for Manchester. And at ten minutes to six I was summoned to the office of Mister James Bland, the station master. [00:06:46] Speaker G: And so that seems to be it very likely. I have no real reason at all to be worried, Inspector Collins, but since I saw you below there in the station, I thought it wise to call you in on it. [00:06:56] Speaker B: I'm happy to be of any help, Mister Bland. As I understand it, your special train is running behind schedule. Is that in? [00:07:01] Speaker G: Incredibly behind schedule. It's nearly half an hour overdue at Manchester right now. We've wired them to check and report back. [00:07:07] Speaker B: It isn't exactly unheard of for a train to run slow, mister Bland. [00:07:10] Speaker G: It is unless there's some reason and I can't think of one. In this case the special had clear track all the way. It passed through St. Helens at 452, right on time they wired us and then 15 minutes later released the local to follow along behind it into Manchester. [00:07:24] Speaker B: You mentioned something about Mister Caritol having a companion, I believe. [00:07:27] Speaker G: Yes, a great hulking brute named Gomez. He didn't utter a word while they were here. Seemed to be a sort of bodyguard. Carrot himself was small and stooped with a swarthy complexion, possibly a Latin American. [00:07:40] Speaker B: And you got the impression that he was carrying something rather valuable in his briefcase? [00:07:43] Speaker G: Yes, he wouldn't let it out of his hands and he seemed to be in great fear of something, though I haven't any idea what it may have been. [00:07:49] Speaker B: Oh, what about this second chap? How is Moore? [00:07:51] Speaker G: English, about 40 years old. Seemed very anxious to reach his sick wife in London. [00:07:56] Speaker B: Here's Manchester on the wire now, Mister Bland. [00:07:59] Speaker G: Oh good, what do they. [00:08:05] Speaker B: Well here's a message assumed change in your original plan. Local from St. Helens arrived. Manchester reports no sign of special train. [00:08:16] Speaker G: Oh but that's impossible. St. Helens reported the special through ahead of the locals. [00:08:20] Speaker B: Is there a branch line between St. Helens and Manchester, mister Bland? [00:08:23] Speaker G: No, not even a double track. There's only a single track mainline straight through sidings of course at the local stations for loading purposes. But Mister Hood, check every local operator from St. Helens Arm. We've got to get to the bottom of this. I can't understand it Inspector Collins. A locomotive and two coaches can't simply. Well it's utterly impossible. It can't have just disappeared. [00:08:51] Speaker B: In a few moments the answers began coming in over the wire. The first was from St. Helens repeating our previous message, a special train past here at 452 local, departed 15 minutes later. Then from Collins Green special pasture at 05:00 followed by local train 17 minutes later. And then Earl's time, special pasture 506, followed by local 18 minutes later. Newton, special pass 512. Local train 17 minutes later at Kenyon Junction special through here at 520 local pass 19 minutes later. And then Barton Moss, local through 553. No special train past here today. [00:09:35] Speaker G: I tell you, it's absolutely unprecedented, Inspector Collins. An entire train and five human beings vanishing from an open track between two local stations only 8 miles apart. It's impossible. [00:09:46] Speaker B: There's the only thing to the contrary being the fact that it has apparently happened. [00:09:50] Speaker G: But I can't understand it. [00:09:51] Speaker B: Mister Bland, I think you'd better make arrangements to get us out to Kenyon Junction as quickly as possible. Within ten minutes we were in a coach behind a goods engine moving at full throttle on the main line east out of Liverpool. Since the missing special had been reported safely through Kenyon Junction, there was no need for concern with the country this side of that station. While the coach rattled and banged along the miles, we spent the time poring over a large scale map of that eight mile stretch between the junction and Barton Moss. [00:10:25] Speaker G: As you can see for yourself on the map, Inspector Collins, it's rather open country through there. Low rolling hills mostly, with quite a lot of coal mining and one steel mill. No towns or villages near the railway line. [00:10:37] Speaker B: Yes, so I see. Mister Bland, what about these spur tracks that join the main line? Or more of them? [00:10:42] Speaker G: 14 to be exact. [00:10:43] Speaker B: Isn't it possible the special could have been switched onto one of those spurs? [00:10:47] Speaker G: Well, yes and no. Eight of them can be eliminated immediately. Besides being narrow gauge tracks, they're also much too flimsy to bear the weight of a standard locomotive. Furthermore, they end at loading bins adjacent to the main line there. They're not actually connected to it. [00:11:02] Speaker B: I see. Well, that still leaves six. Are they all standard gauge? [00:11:06] Speaker G: Yes, but three of those six can be eliminated too. Since they've been abandoned for years. The mines they were built for are no longer operated. The red gauntlet, despond and heartsease collieries. [00:11:18] Speaker B: Yes, but abandoned or not, if the tracks are still there, couldn't they be used? [00:11:21] Speaker G: No, no, they could not. When service to the three mines was discontinued years ago, the switches along the several hundred yards of track adjacent to the main line were removed to prevent accidents. [00:11:31] Speaker B: And that settles that. But we still have three lines left. [00:11:34] Speaker G: Yes, and all in operation. They serve the big Ben and perseverance collieries and the carnstock ironworks. [00:11:40] Speaker B: Good. Then there's the probable area of our investigation. [00:11:43] Speaker G: Probable? Inspector, I fail to see anything probable about a train scheduled for Manchester turning up in a dead end siding. [00:11:51] Speaker B: For many years now, Mister Bland, I've been approaching problems of this sort with a certain theory of logic. Once both the obvious and the impossible are eliminated, and we seem to agree on those, then the solution must lie in the realm of the improbable, no matter how fantastic it may at first seek. [00:12:06] Speaker G: I can't believe it. Why wouldn't the train crew report in? What about Mister Caritool's anxiety to get to London? Why wouldn't. [00:12:13] Speaker B: Wait. We're slowing down, aren't we? That's right, sir. We're pulling into Kenyon junction. This is the last station to report seeing the last special. Very well, gentlemen, this is where we start to work. We stopped in the junction only long enough to rig acetylene, spot lanterns at either side of the coach directed in such fashion as to light up the roadbed and embankment along both sides of the track. And then we popped slowly out onto the main line and headed towards Barton Moss, 8 miles away. The first mile of those eight dropped behind us and brought no significant discovery. And we moved on through the second mile. Save for the flood of light from our lanterns and the dull red glow from the fireboxes at the engine, the night was as black as pitch. Now and again. The ugly shape of a loading bin for one of the narrow gauge feeder lines would loom out of the darkness ahead of us and float past, ghostly for a moment in our lights and then desirable way behind us into the blackness. But on the roadbed, the rails themselves remained unmarred, undisturbed, and offered not the slightest clue to explain a disappearance that grew more mysterious by the minute. We completed the second mile and moved on. And then suddenly. [00:13:40] Speaker G: What is it, inspector? What do you see? [00:13:41] Speaker B: Stop the engine at once, Mister Hood. Yes, sir. [00:13:45] Speaker G: What is it, inspector? [00:13:47] Speaker B: I think I've seen something. [00:13:51] Speaker G: I don't see a thing. [00:13:52] Speaker B: It's just off the embankment there, the edge of the bushes. We'll need a hand light. You are, sir. Good. All right, come on now, let's have a look. [00:14:02] Speaker G: By heaven, there is something. Right enough. [00:14:05] Speaker B: I say now. Well, it looks like a man lying there. It's more likely the body of a man from the position he's in. Well now, lad, come on. Let's turn you over and have a glimpse at your face. [00:14:17] Speaker G: What? Inspector, this is John Slater. [00:14:21] Speaker B: Huh? And who is John Slater. [00:14:23] Speaker G: He was the engineer on the special. [00:14:25] Speaker B: Hmm. Well, he's dead. His neck's broken. [00:14:29] Speaker G: Dead? [00:14:29] Speaker B: I'll venture a quick guess. It was caused by a fall from the cab of his engine, traveling rather fast at the time, I'd say. You can see where he rolled through the bushes for some little distance there. But then what happened to the locomotive inspector afterward, I mean. That still remains to be seen, Mister Hood. We can be fairly certain of one thing, though. A special must have come at least this far out of the junction. Otherwise it's pretty difficult to account for the engineer's body being here. [00:14:51] Speaker G: No more difficult, surely, than it is to account for any of this. This whole thing is incredible. Impossible. [00:14:57] Speaker B: Well, we still have our improbabilities, Mister Bland. Those three connected spur lines are ahead of us yet, and the chances are one of them is going to supply some kind of an answer. By midnight, I'd completed a thorough check of the three lines. The first one, to the big Ben colliery, ran a mile and a half back into the hills and ended against the face of a huge pile of coal. Not large enough, however, to cover a locomotive and two coaches. I made certain of that. The line to the perseverance colliery was hardly more than a half mile long. It had been blocked all day, and it was still blocked by a string of loaded ore cars and ended beyond them against the open rock face of a quarry. The last line running to the Carnstock ironworks was a double track and had been left open all day. However, a sleepy superintendent informed me that over 200 repairmen had been busy on the roadbed until well after dusk. And it was impossible to imagine a non scheduled train passing through such a horde of witnesses unnoticed. Oh. Shortly after midnight, dog tired, we walked into Barton Moss station, still without the slightest explanation of the mystery. I want to send a wire through to Scotland Yard. [00:16:08] Speaker G: Scotland Yard? [00:16:09] Speaker B: Yes, sir. I'm prepared to postpone further investigation. [00:16:16] Speaker G: Investigation? [00:16:18] Speaker B: Until daylight. [00:16:20] Speaker G: Yes, sir. [00:16:21] Speaker B: Sign at Collins. Can you get that up right away? [00:16:23] Speaker G: Right away, sir. [00:16:25] Speaker B: A peaceful english countryside and a dead engine driver. [00:16:31] Speaker G: You speaking to me, sir? [00:16:32] Speaker B: Hmm? Oh, no, no. It is strange, though. [00:16:36] Speaker G: Strange, sir? [00:16:37] Speaker B: In broad daylight, a 40 ton locomotive with two carriages and four passengers has vanished from the face of the earth. [00:16:50] Speaker F: In just a moment, we will return to escape. But first, ten great shows come to you every Sunday night on CB's. And right and bright in the middle is America's number one comedy, the Jack Benny show. Tomorrow night, Jack will take his place on CB's All Star Night with a cast that made the Jack Benny show a welcome visitor in millions of american homes. Yes, Jack Benny, Amos and Andy, Helen Hayes, Eve Arden and all the other great stars come to you over most of these same stations in CBS's ten great shows on Sunday nights. And now with our star Ben Wright, we return to the second act of escape and the Lost Special. [00:17:38] Speaker B: The next morning, of course, the story was out and the daily papers went to work on it. But fortunately for Scotland Yard, the main attention of the press was directed at the moment toward the international scandal which had been brewing for a week or two among high financial circles in France. As it was, however, letters to the editor in the Morning Post gave us quite a rough go of it. Oh, with all manner of cracks, it. [00:17:58] Speaker G: Seems difficult to believe that the worthy operators of Scotland Yard have overlooked the one obvious explanation as to the whereabouts of the missing train. May I advise them that some 2 miles from Botan Moss, the railroad line crosses the west branch canal. Unquestionably, the special leapt from the bridge and lies now in the muddy. [00:18:18] Speaker B: This whole affair is obviously the work of some subversive organization. And until the culprits are brought in to face their just deserts, no man, woman or child in England can be considered safe. Now. [00:18:33] Speaker G: My advice is the fulfillment of ancient prophecies. The forces of evil grow bolder and begin now to invade the earth openly. There is no doubt but what that strange man carried all was really the devil in disguise. And it is. My first action this morning is to gaze quickly across the city toward Westminster Abbey. Considering the recently demonstrated inefficiency of Scotland yacht and the Manchester Liverpool railway affairs, it's quite possible the abbey may be spirited away some night soon. [00:19:05] Speaker B: A week passed, and then two weeks. We scoured the whole western countryside, following up every lead, tracking down each rumor, and we got nowhere. Three weeks. Four? And then the press began to ignore the matter. Two months went by. Nothing new. Three months. And the activity of Scotland Yard in the matter had come to a standstill. The reason was simple enough. We had no idea what else to do. So the records were finally taken from the active file and marked case still open and unsolved. Even though I worked on other assignments, my mind kept turning continually back to the case of the lost special. I tried to think of some avenue left untried, some path overlooked, and I could think of nothing. I reviewed all of the improbabilities I'd tested and disproved, and I tried to. Improbabilities. Suddenly, a fallacy in my own logic began to dawn on me. Arbitrarily, I had called certain explanations impossible and touched them only lightly in my investigation. And yet, what could really be classed as impossible in a case which itself was utterly impossible? Back down to Barton Moss again. And then ten days of painstaking work. At the end of those ten days, I was certain that I'd found at least the essentials of the answer. And I was equally certain that I could never prove it. I could see only one bare chance, a desperate chance against long odds. I laid my plan before the chief inspector. And then Scotland Yard went into action. [00:20:57] Speaker G: The London Times the 21 November 1890 rumors are circulating that a man named Dalton arriving in Liverpool in the steam of Vistula tomorrow, may hold the key to the longstanding Manchester railway mystery. According to reliable sources, Mister Dalton possesses recently discovered copies of the documents which were carried in the briefcase of the ill fated Mister caritol. It is further stated that Scotland Yard is arranging to meet Mister Dalton at the Liverpool pier and rush him forthwith to London. [00:21:28] Speaker B: The next afternoon, accompanied by Mister Dalton, I walked into the office of Mister James Bland, station master at Liverpool, and chartered a special train for London. [00:21:36] Speaker G: We shall have the train ready for you to leave in ten minutes, Inspector Collins. [00:21:40] Speaker B: Good. I'm most anxious to get Mister Dalton and his briefcase to London as quickly as possible. [00:21:44] Speaker G: Yes, I saw the squib in yesterday's paper and I was afraid then you'd be wanting a special train arranged. I'm still worried about it as a matter of fact. [00:21:52] Speaker B: Oh, I hardly think there's any need to be. You've run a good many specials up to Manchester since that affair six months ago. And you've never lost another one now have you? [00:21:59] Speaker G: No, but I'll confess I've shaken in my boots every time I've watched one of them pull out of here. [00:22:04] Speaker E: I say now you're going to have me jumping at my own shadow. [00:22:07] Speaker B: Oh, don't worry, Mister Dalton, I'll have you in London before you know it and none the worse for the trip. [00:22:11] Speaker G: Nevertheless, inspector, you'll have to admit the situation today is very much like the one six months ago. [00:22:16] Speaker B: Oh yes, in some ways. [00:22:18] Speaker G: The mysterious stranger arriving by steamer from South America and in urgent haste to reach London. The carefully watched briefcase, which according to rumor, contains the very same sort of material Mister Carrattle was carrying. [00:22:29] Speaker B: But there is one difference. Mister Dalton is being accompanied by an agent from Scotland Yard. [00:22:33] Speaker G: Yes, but Mister Caritle also had a guard, that chap Gomez, and both of them disappeared. [00:22:40] Speaker E: Oh come now, surely you don't think that anything so fantastic could possible. [00:22:45] Speaker B: No, he's right, Mister Dordan. It did happen once and a number of the elements are similar. Well Mister Bland, I'll wire you as soon as we reach Manchester. [00:22:52] Speaker G: Hardly necessary, inspector. I think I shall go along with you. [00:22:58] Speaker A: Good. [00:22:58] Speaker B: But if you're looking forward to excitement, I can't promise you no. [00:23:01] Speaker G: It will probably be a very ordinary but if I stayed here I'd be a nervous wreck by the time you reached Manchester. [00:23:07] Speaker B: Well then come along by all means. Mister Dalton and I will enjoy your company. Your train has just pulled up the platform, gentlemen. Good. Well gentlemen, we uh, we can't keep the fates waiting, huh? Let's get aboard. [00:23:28] Speaker G: Well, it's certainly been an uneventful journey so far. [00:23:31] Speaker B: Why, I hardly expected anything to happen this side of Kenyon Junction. And it's right ahead of us there, Inspector Collins. [00:23:37] Speaker G: You mean you are expecting something to happen on the other side of it? [00:23:40] Speaker B: Oh yes, yes, that's the whole purpose of the trip. [00:23:43] Speaker G: I don't believe I follow you. [00:23:45] Speaker B: Yes, I imagine it is about time that you were brought in on this, Mister Bland. I didn't want to take any chances by discussing it before we were well along towards the danger area. [00:23:55] Speaker E: We're passing through Kenyon Junction, Inspector. [00:23:57] Speaker B: Good. Oh, Mister Dalton. There is a Scotland Yard agent by the way, Mister Bland. Oh, and all he's carrying in that mysterious briefcase is half dozen ham sandwiches. [00:24:08] Speaker G: I think I should welcome some sort of explanation, Inspector culling. Yes? [00:24:14] Speaker B: Did you ever hear of the old trick an archer uses when he loses an arrow? He shoots another in the same general direction, follows it. Sometimes he finds both of them. Well, this train and all of us aboard it constitute the second arrow, Mister. [00:24:28] Speaker G: Bland, do you mean you're expecting this train to vanish like the other? Why you're deliberately risking our lives. [00:24:33] Speaker B: Oh, the risk is not quite so great as you may imagine. [00:24:35] Speaker G: But what makes you believe the attempt will be repeated? [00:24:37] Speaker B: I've created as nearly as possible the same set of conditions that led to the first disappearance. If I'm right about the motivation, the parties concerned can hardly afford not to repeat. [00:24:47] Speaker G: Motivation? I fail to see one. [00:24:49] Speaker B: Well it requires a bit of assuming, Mister bland, but the assumptions seem to fit the facts as well as the method used. Let's take some of those facts. Mister Carator was in a frantic hurry to reach Paris. His briefcase apparently contained something of great value. He was afraid an attempt would be made to prevent his reaching. Paris? Yes, in Paris at that time, a huge financial scandal was brewing, which later came to nothing because of lack of evidence. The scandal involved illegal land operations in Central America. And Mister Caratal had just arrived from Central America with his briefcase. Even so. And finally, it must require a good deal of money to bring about the disappearance of a locomotive and coaches. Whereas ordinary criminals rarely have a good deal of money. Now do you follow me? [00:25:32] Speaker G: Yes, yes, of course. If all that's true, then the idea was to eliminate Caritol completely along with his evidence. [00:25:40] Speaker B: And that's exactly what was done. [00:25:41] Speaker E: Inspector, we just passed the spot where John Slater's body was found. [00:25:45] Speaker B: Well then, heads up Mister Dalton, it's only a few hundred yards. [00:25:48] Speaker G: Now tell me this inspector, have you also discovered how the thing was done? [00:25:53] Speaker B: Oh yes, but I'm in the unfortunate position of not being able to prove it. [00:25:57] Speaker G: And what do you think it's going to prove if the same thing happens to us? [00:26:01] Speaker B: Oh that. Well I forgot to mention that there are 20 agents of Scotland Yard concealed in the coach behind us. They're specially selected, armed with rifles, and are there for the express purpose of making sure the same thing does not happen to us. [00:26:15] Speaker E: We're slowing down, Inspector Collins. Well I think this is it. [00:26:18] Speaker G: Slowing down? [00:26:19] Speaker B: Why we're leaving the main line. [00:26:21] Speaker G: But we can't leave the main line. There's no siding here. [00:26:23] Speaker B: Oh yes there is. There's the spur track to the heartsease. [00:26:26] Speaker G: Colliery, but it's abandoned. There's no connection to the main line. The rails were taken away years ago. [00:26:32] Speaker B: Ordinarily you'd be right, mister Bland, but at the moment there's an excellent switch installed at the main line and also a very serviceable set of rails connecting it with the old track. We're traveling over them now, as a matter of fact. You see anything, Mister Dalton? Not yet, sir. The train is being manned incidentally by Scotland Yard agents. I took the liberty of holding the regular crew and the coach behind us until we could find out which of them had been bought off and which scheduled to end up like John Slater. [00:27:00] Speaker G: But I was confessed, Inspector. [00:27:01] Speaker B: Look. [00:27:02] Speaker E: Men are coming out of the bushes behind us. You're already starting to pull up the rails. [00:27:05] Speaker B: You see Mister Bland, in 15 minutes you'll be right again. There'll be no connection between the heartsease siding and the main line. [00:27:12] Speaker G: Yes, yes, I see now. By heaven I never. [00:27:16] Speaker B: Mister Bland, it won't do any good to try to signal with that pocket handkerchief. [00:27:20] Speaker G: I'm. I'm afraid I don't quite understand you, Inspector. [00:27:24] Speaker B: Then perhaps you'll understand the fact that you're under arrest for the murder of carator Gomez and John Slater. [00:27:29] Speaker G: Why that's utterly ridiculous. Why are, why have we stopped? [00:27:33] Speaker B: In order to permit the, ah, where's your answer? I think that 20 agents of Scotland Yard should prove more than a match for your assistance. [00:27:43] Speaker G: Your guesses are nothing less than preposterous, inspector. What could I or anyone else gain by merely switching a train onto an abandoned siding? The other special, if you recall, disappeared. [00:27:54] Speaker B: Ah, yes, yes, so it did. And straight ahead of us a mile and a half. If you recall, Mister Bland, this spur ends at the Heartsease mineshaft, one of the largest inclined shots in this part of the country. According to the records it used to be 900ft deep, but upon investigating it last week I found it closed off by a tremendous cave in at 400ft. Now tell me, Mister Bland, was the cave in caused by the explosion of the locomotive's boiler when it struck the bottom? Or did you dynamite the shaft after the train went into it? [00:28:25] Speaker G: You've no proof of any of this and no evidence whatsoever against me. [00:28:28] Speaker B: Your train crew and the coach behind us have all signed statements and I think we'll get a good deal more evidence from the men who are being rounded up out there now. [00:28:36] Speaker G: I. I have nothing further to say. [00:28:39] Speaker B: There's nothing you can say, mister Bland. We've seen your bank account with those mysterious and heavy entries which are dated about the time the special disappeared, which I am sure we shall be able to trace to certain french sources. We've succeeded in tracing down Macpherson and Smith, a fireman and conductor you bribed to vanish. Too bad you couldn't bribe Slater the engineer because his death was most unfortunate. You see, his body furnished us with our first clue. Yes, mister Bland. Without Slater's body we might really have thought that the lost special had been disappeared into thin air. [00:29:21] Speaker F: Escape is produced and directed by Norman McDonald. Today we have presented the Lost Special by Conan Doyle, adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield with editorial supervision by John Dunkel. Starred as Inspector Collins, was Ben Wright and the featured players were Parley Bear, John Danner, Edgar Berrier, Larry Dopkin and Paul Freeser. The special music was arranged and played by Ivan Ditmars. [00:29:49] Speaker E: Next week you are aboard the Orient Express, rushing through the european night bound for Constantinople. And in your compartment with you, a gun pointed at your head, a small mysterious foreigner is about to take your life. [00:30:19] Speaker F: Next week we escape with Graham Greene's exciting novel of intrigue. Orient Express. Goodbye then, until this same time next week when CB's again offers you escape for more adventures seek it out with two top CB's shows tonight, the adventures of Philip Marlowe and Gangbusters, both regular Saturday features on most of the same CB's network stations. Be sure to hear them tonight. Now stay tuned for five minutes of the latest news to be followed by the let's pretend program over most of these same CB's stations. This is Roy Rowan speaking for CB's the Columbia Broadcasting System. [00:31:30] Speaker A: That was the lost special from escape here on the mysterious old radio Listening Society podcast. Once again, I'm Eric. [00:31:38] Speaker C: I'm Tim. [00:31:39] Speaker D: And I'm Joshua. [00:31:40] Speaker A: Tim brought that to us, and as was alluded in the description or the introduction, I should say that there would be more about this not being a Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story, which answered some of my questions that I was going to have coming out of the gate, which was. Was that supposed to be Sherlock Holmes? Did they just change the name of him? So I'm going to learn a lot in this episode, in this podcast about. But more importantly, Tim, why did you bring this to the podcast? [00:32:17] Speaker C: I, some time ago was just reading through a collection of Doyle, non holmesian mysteries, and I was enjoying them. And this one I enjoyed quite a bit. It's much so that when I found it had been adapted by escape, I just jumped on it. [00:32:31] Speaker A: He says in the intro. It's a trope. Now, this story has been done so many times, I can't think of any time I've heard of a story where the train goes missing. Like, should I. [00:32:43] Speaker C: It's a lot when you think of any time where a train is train napped by diverting it off onto some. [00:32:50] Speaker D: Hidden cave, or it's been adapted as a western before it was stolen by Edison, as he tended to steal things, I think, for the great train robbery. Right? [00:33:01] Speaker C: Yes. Ah, it's so common, it's hard to even think of the examples of where, like, there's one of the James bonds where a subway car just gets drops down to a hidden level. [00:33:12] Speaker A: Sure. [00:33:13] Speaker C: And it's, it's very different than this particular story. But the whole trope of diverting a train into some hidden place kind of starts here. [00:33:22] Speaker A: Like the bat cave. [00:33:23] Speaker C: Yes. [00:33:24] Speaker D: The Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock used elements from this story, too. [00:33:29] Speaker A: It did, yeah. I watched all those. I missed it. And then the suspense version six years earlier, did you listen to it? [00:33:38] Speaker C: I did not. I only found out about that one as I was writing the intro that I doing, like, maybe I should have listened to that one. [00:33:43] Speaker D: Yeah. It's Orson Welles. I know. [00:33:46] Speaker C: To bring it sometime in the future. I don't know if we'd really be up for listening to the same sort of train story over and over again. [00:33:52] Speaker A: But, yeah, that would be tough. [00:33:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:33:56] Speaker A: So all of that was really interesting to me because I have not read or heard or delved into any way, shape or form any of Doyle's work, other than Sherlock Holmes. I know nothing about any of it. Oh. Other than his mummy story. Right. That I knew about, other than collection. [00:34:12] Speaker C: Of horror stories as well, but I. [00:34:14] Speaker A: Don'T know a lot about it. And so two things happen. I'm listening to this and I'm thinking, geez, someone owes Doyle some money, because this is very Sherlock Holmes this entire episode, and how he's relating, how he communicates, how the dialogue works. Everything was. And then at the end they said, they might have said at the beginning, I just missed it, but at the end when they say, you know, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adaptation of it. And I went, oh, he owes Doyle a lot of money. [00:34:42] Speaker D: Right. [00:34:43] Speaker A: So now my next question. Was this written before Sherlock Holmes character stuff? [00:34:50] Speaker C: This was written between his death, his I'm air quoting death with Moriarty. Final problem. Yep. And before he was returned in Hound of Baskerville's. [00:35:01] Speaker D: Hound of Baskerville's was a flashback, but that resurrected. So, yes, it was beforehand of the Baskerville's and before the empty house. I think that's the. That's the story where he's actually resurrected. [00:35:12] Speaker A: When he went back to writing after killing Sherlock Holmes, off, he went back to just writing another detective. You would think you would like write. [00:35:20] Speaker D: Well, something completely diverts from the original story because it's barely a detective story. I know I just talked last week about how it's boring to recount a story, but I think it's actually. [00:35:33] Speaker A: I just told you last week how much we love that. Get a pillow, Tim. Here we go. [00:35:37] Speaker D: Tim's read it, too. Yes, but it's not so much a detective story as a criminal confession. In the original story, it sets up the problem of the train in the first half of the story, and the second half, once the inspector's completely stumped, is just the guy who did it confessing. [00:35:57] Speaker A: Huh. [00:35:58] Speaker D: And so the writers of escape here, I think it's Les Crutchfield who adapted it, want to transform it into a Sherlock Holmes story, but not use Sherlock Holmes. Because my guess is Sherlock Holmes was probably still under copyright or most of the work when this was made. And to me, that's the drawback to this episode, is we have a poor man's Sherlock Holmes performed by an actor, that this is a total subjective, personal thing, but I always find Ben Wright to be incredibly flat and lifeless and sounds like he's. [00:36:35] Speaker C: But better than Orson Welles, right? [00:36:37] Speaker D: Yeah. Oh, he's so much better. [00:36:39] Speaker B: Okay. [00:36:40] Speaker C: Oh, man. [00:36:41] Speaker D: And I'm gonna steal all Tim's nerd thunder. [00:36:44] Speaker A: Do it. [00:36:44] Speaker C: Do it. [00:36:45] Speaker D: The original story does have a Sherlock Holmes Easter egg in it. That's actually from Arthur Conan Doyle teasing all those nerds who are walking around in black armbands. It's a great part of this actual episode, but where there's the montage of crackpot letters that are published in the newspaper, theorizing about what might be the cause of this train disappearing. In the original story, one of the letters is from an well known amateur detective, and that's where we know it's Sherlock Holmes because Doyle uses a slightly altered version of his famous line. It is one of the elementary principles of practical reasoning that when the impossible has been eliminated. [00:37:30] Speaker A: That was the point where I went, someone owes Doyle a lot of money when I heard that. [00:37:34] Speaker D: But he puts that in this letter from an anonymous amateur detective. [00:37:38] Speaker C: Being in this fun little letter, they just give it to the. The inspector, which is not as fun. [00:37:43] Speaker A: No, that montage. Yeah, that was one of my favorite parts of this. That was really a fun. Is that in the original story, too? All of those? Yeah. That was really felt really contemporary. Contemporary. That was the word. I. I was in my. Yeah, it's very contemporary conspiracy theory. No, you listen to stuff like that and you go, oh, nothing's changed at all. We're the same. [00:38:11] Speaker C: It might also be just a little bit of Conan Doyle going, I get a lot of letters. [00:38:15] Speaker A: Right? [00:38:17] Speaker C: A lot of letters solving these things for me. [00:38:20] Speaker D: So I think part of reader's frustration at the time, and even mine reading the lost special, is just that, you know, if it were written ten years earlier, it would have been a Sherlock Holmes story. And he's working really hard, which I also admire, to make it not even. Not a Sherlock Holmes story, but to make it not even a story with a detective in it, but still keep it a mystery. So in that way, I admire it. [00:38:46] Speaker A: This will come up, and I don't know when. Is it my episode? Next week? [00:38:52] Speaker D: Yes. [00:38:53] Speaker A: Good. Then this will come up next week again. So I'm teasing next week. But the idea that I have been running into a lot of supernatural stories in the last few months or so of old time radio that end up with this plausible explanation, and it's just getting frustrating to me. Could it just be a monster or a ghost? Does it always have to have some kind of. So when this one, when I was listening to this, it's like, oh, please, just have it be something. Aliens. Because aliens, I don't know. But he was so, like, it has to be the most impossible thing you can think of. We've eliminated everything else. And I'm like, oh, please be something cool. It's escape. Let's make it, you know, the abominable snowman ate it. I don't know, I'd like anything. I'm just begging for. Not a. Oh, it turns out it was a guy in a mask. You know, the Scooby doo logical ending. This one, however, when I finally got my payoff, like, how is this train disappearing? That slow setup of. I've recreated the train right on the train, recreated the exact scenario. We've got a 1.2 million Scotland yard agents on this train. Everything to set up and then to hear the sentence, look at them coming out of the bushes, they're pulling up the tracks as the train goes over them. And I was satisfied. I went, oh, cool. Not a stupid, logical ending. Not as cool as they went into a wormhole to hell. But it was satisfying and it wasn't me rolling my eyes went, oh, that's pretty cool. A bunch of guys, come on, get rid of the track. However, wow, you got to lay down track and pick it up fast. I mean, that's going to be a lot of guys. That can't be easy. [00:40:48] Speaker C: But anyway, that was exactly the thing when I was first reading the story that made me like it so much was, as they put it in this radio adaptation, what is possible even if really improbable, right? And that easy to overlook thing of like, well, it can't be this because this can't be this, even though it could be. But it works. Like I've heard, like, magic magicians, that's what they're called. People who do magic about the psychology they use to convince people something is impossible, right? That is, if you ignore that psychology. It's a blindingly simple trick, right? But this psychology is so effective of it can't be on these rails because they're too small, it can't be on these rails because they don't connect and moving on from there. And you just accept that because it was right once, it's not necessarily right the second time. That was all the part of this that appeals to me, my little puzzle solving brain. [00:41:47] Speaker A: And I was satisfied that it wasn't stupid. Like, to me, I didn't go, ugh. I went, oh, kind of brilliant. [00:41:55] Speaker D: I think it's a really good solution. And obviously, it has a visceral horror to it of just sending this train down the old mine shaft. [00:42:04] Speaker A: Right. [00:42:05] Speaker D: It's just like. But to your earlier point, Eric. And I can't judge it entirely because I was familiar with the short story, but I feel like Les Crutchfields overdid the. A train can't vanish. It's impossible. He beat that drum so hard, and I knew the solution, and I was still. And I liked it when I read it. But I was still kind of disappointed, weirdly, by it in this adaptation, because I felt like, don't emphasize it so much because you're building expectation to something that is, like you said, something like, irrational, not of this world. [00:42:41] Speaker C: I had forgotten that confessional element of the original story, which now solves my memory problem of, like, I thought in the original story, you got so much more insight into the crew on the first train. Like, you really knew what was happening on that wave, which was part of what was really interesting to me. [00:42:59] Speaker D: And I think it is, again, one of the weaknesses of this adaptation in that he doesn't do much to explain the conflict between the rest of the paid off crew and the engineer. Yeah. Because in this adaptation, it makes it sound like they didn't even think to try to pay them off until they were already halfway to the mine. Whereas it goes into a little more detail in the short story. One element I wish they'd included from the short story is that this criminal had six or seven different variations on this plan. All they knew is that these plans with this guy were arriving at this station. And so they had to, like, activate one of them at incredibly short notice. [00:43:43] Speaker A: Wow. [00:43:43] Speaker D: Once they found out that he was going to. Right. [00:43:46] Speaker C: Because he missed the train. [00:43:47] Speaker D: He missed the train and he was going to actually pay for a special, which was a lot of money. [00:43:53] Speaker C: Yes. $2 trillion in today's. [00:43:57] Speaker A: Wow. [00:43:58] Speaker C: Yeah. Very expensive. [00:43:59] Speaker D: 8857 pounds today. Or in dollars. 11,245. Or in groceries, like two bags. [00:44:08] Speaker A: Right. Where you work. [00:44:14] Speaker D: Not true. But. [00:44:18] Speaker C: So part of that is, if you ever have a hankering to read a short story, this is one you might like. [00:44:24] Speaker A: How many pages? How much of my life? [00:44:26] Speaker C: Less than ten. [00:44:28] Speaker A: Less than ten. [00:44:29] Speaker C: I would think. [00:44:29] Speaker A: I'm in. [00:44:30] Speaker D: It's a lot of people talking, Eric. [00:44:35] Speaker C: It's a train. It's a story about a train. [00:44:37] Speaker D: One thing that I'm pretty sure was not in the original story that I really liked. That was added in here is that Archer metaphor for the plan. The archer, when he loses an arrow, will shoot a second one. [00:44:49] Speaker A: Right? Yes, yes, yes, yes. [00:44:51] Speaker D: They should have changed the name to the second arrow. That would have been awesome. Yeah. It was just a really nice touch because it both clarified that this was not decided willy nilly, but also that it's a little bit of a Hail Mary at the same time. Yeah. Lost an arrow. Just shoot another one. Maybe you'll find it. [00:45:14] Speaker A: Here's the flaw, though. It's also a great way to lose two arrows. [00:45:18] Speaker B: Yes. [00:45:20] Speaker C: Yeah. They don't talk about. So if you lose two arrows, try shooting a third. [00:45:24] Speaker A: Right. Brought to you by the national we make Arrows society Fletchers. [00:45:31] Speaker C: I'll give you my lunch money. I understand. [00:45:33] Speaker A: What is Fletcher's? [00:45:34] Speaker C: They make arrows. [00:45:35] Speaker A: Wow. You knew of aero company. [00:45:39] Speaker D: I seem to recall this. Did you do some archery in your youth, or am I talking to someone else? [00:45:44] Speaker C: I mean, as much as being a Cub scout. Demanded. [00:45:47] Speaker D: Oh, okay. [00:45:48] Speaker A: Demanded, which was a lot. [00:45:50] Speaker C: I don't know why keep shooting. [00:45:55] Speaker A: Now pour the oil on their heads. Tim's really old. [00:46:03] Speaker D: Pub leader. Just take you into a bank with some bows and arrows. [00:46:08] Speaker C: Well, then King Henry V gave us this big speech, and we were defending against the French. [00:46:17] Speaker A: Well, any other thoughts on this episode, gentlemen? I'm ready to vote whenever I do now. [00:46:21] Speaker C: Really want to hear the suspense one. [00:46:23] Speaker A: Yeah, me too. [00:46:24] Speaker C: I don't want to offend this episode of Escape, but, like, I think your sister might be prettier. [00:46:30] Speaker A: Wow. [00:46:33] Speaker D: I don't know what it is about Ben Wright. He doesn't capture any sort of energy or eccentricity. And I think because this story is all relayed through the inspector that, again, you need to just have something more compelling about your performance. And you need to do more than just say some slightly altered Sherlock Holmes lines to make us feel like we're part of an exciting mystery. [00:46:56] Speaker C: Well, it's funny because it was so believable to me that. Yes, I'm sure months went by, you made no progress. [00:47:02] Speaker A: Can you say five years? Right. [00:47:06] Speaker D: Well, I think he might have said. [00:47:07] Speaker A: Five years is when he came back to this. It sat on the shelf for five. [00:47:11] Speaker D: Which is funny, because in the story, it's like he just fails this. [00:47:14] Speaker C: Yeah, it never solved. [00:47:15] Speaker D: It never solved. [00:47:15] Speaker F: Oh, really? [00:47:16] Speaker D: Yeah. And I can't remember what the conceit is, what the reason is that the master criminal at the last minute confesses. I think he's going to be executed for another crime or something. And he's just bragging. But yeah, the detective utterly fails. Which, again, seems like Conan Doyle going, don't get attached to any more detective characters. I am done writing this crap. No more. Just give me my money. I'm going home. It's all dinosaurs from dinosaurs and historical fiction. Leave me alone. [00:47:48] Speaker A: I'm pretty sure that's what his tombstone says. Well, should we vote yes? [00:47:54] Speaker C: Tim, this is not a classic. I will say this stands the test of time. I think its charms hold up. It stands or falls really, on. If it's fun to listen to this mystery unfold, the letter sequence in particular stands out as appealing. But if I wouldn't begrudge anyone from thinking like, this is kind of a run of the mill, by the numbers. [00:48:17] Speaker A: Crime story, I'm gonna say everything you just said. [00:48:21] Speaker D: At least do it in a funny. [00:48:22] Speaker A: Voice, or I'm gonna do it like, what's his name? [00:48:24] Speaker D: Oh, Ben Wright. [00:48:26] Speaker A: I'll do it like Ben. I can't remember what you said now. So now I can't do a Ben impression. [00:48:31] Speaker C: That's really good. [00:48:31] Speaker A: Yeah. I just wanted to say, I think. [00:48:35] Speaker D: No, I've been right on NPR. [00:48:37] Speaker A: Yeah, that was Vivaldi Minor. I agree with everything Tim just said. I liked it. That's what this is for me. [00:48:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:51] Speaker A: It's not a classic sentence time. I guess it could for some people. Is it groundbreaking? Monumental. I thought the acting was. I disagree with you in the sense of Ben Wright doesn't. I never thought about it till you brought it up. Thought he was great or good. You know what I mean? [00:49:07] Speaker D: If the story hadn't tried to cast him as a Sherlock Holmes substitute, then I probably wouldn't have picked on it. [00:49:14] Speaker A: Right. So I like the acting. I like the production value. I like the pace of it. I liked. I don't know anything about the original story, so I can't say anything to its adaptation, but I certainly. I liked it. And that's about as far as I'll go with it. I liked it. [00:49:29] Speaker D: Good enough. [00:49:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:49:30] Speaker D: Yeah. I will steal one of Eric's catchphrases. It was fine. Yeah, it really was. Like I said it, and I think the original does to a certain extent too, but this in particular has a sherlock shaped hole in it. And I think they would have been better off to just not try to have a poor man Sherlock Holmes, because that's all I thought of. And it just keep coming up short. As soon as they made me think, think of Sherlock Holmes. And if they hadn't tried to do that, I don't think I would have. [00:50:04] Speaker C: Been as disappointed as just a detective who's. I work for Scotland Yard. I work in a normal sort of investigator way. [00:50:12] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:50:12] Speaker A: Now I want a Sherlock shaped hole in my house. [00:50:17] Speaker C: Invite Sherlock Holmes over. [00:50:18] Speaker A: Right. And just. [00:50:19] Speaker C: Just scare him real bad. [00:50:21] Speaker A: Right. [00:50:21] Speaker D: Run straight to the wall. [00:50:24] Speaker A: No, no, put your pipe in. It's gonna be so cool. And the hat. The pipe in the hat's gotta be on. Tim, tell him stuff. [00:50:31] Speaker C: Please go visit googlishdolice.com. you'll find other episodes of our podcast there. You can vote in polls, let us know what you think. You can leave comments and you see if you agree with our assessment of. Pretty good. [00:50:44] Speaker A: It's okay. [00:50:44] Speaker C: It's fine. That's not in the polls. But yeah, you can. You can also link to our store and buy some mysterious old radio listening society. SWag Morals is the acronym for that. And you can link to our Patreon page. [00:51:02] Speaker D: Yes, go to patreon.com, the morals and become a member of the mysterious old radio Listening Society. How do you become a member? Why, you simply give us money. It's that easy. So please, we have all sorts of perks you will get to. What do we do? We have extra podcasts galore. We're recording several tonight. [00:51:27] Speaker C: We're so grateful to our Patreon. [00:51:32] Speaker D: So you get to have access to not just our monthly extra podcasts, but at this point, we've been doing Patreon long enough that you late comers get a backlog of Patreon only podcasts. Also, we may start sending out Sherlock shaped holes. It's really hard to say. Sounds like a lovecraftian monster. A shawp shaped shawl. [00:51:57] Speaker A: Yeah, you don't want to see the eighties vhs of that movie. If you'd like to see the mysterious old radio listening society theater company performing, we do live on stage recreations of classic old time radio shows and a lot of our own original audio drama. We perform somewhere all the time. So just go to ghoulishdelights.com, find out behind you right now, people with scripts and music stands. Go to ghoulishthelights.com to find out when we're performing, what we're performing, and how to get tickets. And there's always something coming up. Always. And a lot of the places, most of the places we perform at on a regular basis have amazing food and a great atmosphere and makes for a really fun night out. If you'd like to come see us, please do. But if you can't, and if you're a Patreon. We do film them, and that's part of our Patreon package is that you get to watch those shows. [00:52:55] Speaker D: Or we record them. [00:52:57] Speaker A: Or we record them. The audio. [00:52:58] Speaker D: Authentic audio recordings. [00:53:00] Speaker A: Yeah. So shouldn't stop you from coming to see us better. [00:53:06] Speaker D: True. [00:53:06] Speaker A: Tim, what's coming up next? [00:53:08] Speaker C: Up next is your choice, I believe. [00:53:10] Speaker A: That's why I was asking you. I don't remember what I chose. [00:53:12] Speaker C: You chose an episode of suspense. The burning court. [00:53:16] Speaker A: That's right. [00:53:17] Speaker C: Look out. [00:53:19] Speaker D: Can you say until mint? [00:53:20] Speaker A: All right, until then, look out. I forgot about that. Until then. [00:53:26] Speaker D: I've never done this podcast before. Again, this is why they didn't use child actors.