Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger (EP0679)

Sherlock Holmes Presented by the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio

Host Adam Graham introduces a vintage radio adaptation of 'The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger,' featuring Sherlock Holmes investigating a br

Key takeaways

• Sherlock Holmes investigates a circus murder after lion Sahara King escapes and attacks ringmaster Augustus H. Rhonda and his wife, Jeannie.
• Dr. Watson narrates the case to Mr. Harris, revealing that clown Jojo sought Holmes' help due to fears for Jeannie's safety from her abusive husband.

Main topics

• Vintage radio drama / Old Time Radio
• Sherlock Holmes mysteries

Notable quotes

"The circus is a world of its own. It has its own loves and hates, its own laws and standards."

Conclusion

The episode delivers a classic OTR mystery while preserving mid-centur

Transcript preview

Speaker 8 (0:01) The Speaker 1 (0:28) Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This is your host, Adam Graham. If you have a comment, email it to me, box13 at greatdetectives.net. Give us a call. The number is 208-991-4783 and become one of our friends on Facebook, facebook.com slash radiodetectives. And be sure and follow us on Twitter at radiodetectives. Well, today's episode, I do want to begin with a note from Cindy, who says, Adam, just about the time I really start enjoying a new show I haven't heard before, Nero Wolf and Poirot, they come to an end. Thank you so much for putting all these together. Is your book going to be available through Barnes & Noble at all? Referring to, I believe, all I needed to know I learned from Columbo. Well, that is the plan. And it should be available at Barnes & Noble shortly. You can also purchase a copy off of Smashwords. And when you get it off of Smashwords, you can get it in the format that goes for the Nook. And it is already available over in the Sony store and in the Kobo store. I do encourage you to pick up a copy of my e-book, All I Needed to Know I Learned from Columbo. We take a look at seven great detectives, including Columbo, Monk, Nero Wolfe, and of course, Sherlock Holmes. Well, speaking of that, it's time for today's episode of Sherlock Holmes. This one is called The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger. Speaker 3 (2:11) From New York City, the makers of clipper craft clothes for men and 1036 leading retail stores from coast to coast present the world's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. Speaker 3 (2:35) This week's story, The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger. Speaker 3 (2:42) Well, here we are again, about to enter Dr. Watson's familiar study. But, well, watch this. Boxes and suitcases and trunks. Fishing rods and nets and reels piled up in the hallway. Oh, Speaker 7 (2:52) don't let it upset you, Mr. Harris. It simply means Mrs. Watson and I are about to start off on our summer vacation. Personally, I'd just as soon stay comfortably at home. But you know how women are. Have to have an excuse to buy a lot of new summer clothes and... Then you have to go off somewhere to show them off. Speaker 3 (3:10) Oh, yes. Seems to me I've heard you'd bought quite a few new clipper craft suits and sport jackets yourself, Dr. Watson. Speaker 7 (3:15) Well, you wouldn't want me to embarrass the little woman, would you? Oh, Speaker 3 (3:19) good grief, no. And there's one way of making sure the women of the family will be proud of you. Of course, by clipper crafts. All right, you are, Dr. Watson. And now, before you begin the story you promised us, the adventure of the veiled lodger... Which has to do Speaker 7 (3:32) with a very horrible murder that interrupted a fishing trip Holmes and I were enjoying. It was brought to our attention by little Jojo, the clown who traveled with Rhonda's circus. It seems that Sahara King, the lion, got loose. Hold Speaker 3 (3:46) on a minute, Dr. Watson. Before we meet these clowns and lions and circus murders, suppose I say a few words on behalf of the generous gentlemen who have footed the bill for this long and delightful series of Sherlock Holmes reminiscences. That is a motion I second with pleasure, Mr. Harris. Very well, then, Doctor. You can buy clothes for almost any price you wish to pay, but it's hard to believe you can buy such really magnificent suits for only $40 to $47.50, tropicals for only $33.75 to $40, and sport jackets for only $26.50. We're speaking of clipper craft clothes, of course. The only way you can prove this to yourself is by seeing clipper craft for yourself and by comparing them with suits selling for many dollars more. Clipper craft clothes. are made according to a plan that makes these out-of-this-world values possible. In the Clipper Craft Plan, 1036 of the nation's finest independent stores from coast to coast, stores you can trust, voluntarily concentrate their buying power to provide steady year-round operation, reduce manufacturing and distribution costs. Despite rising manufacturing costs, you'll make a real saving. See your Clipper Craft dealer tomorrow. Compare clipper craft with clothes selling for many dollars more. Speaker 3 (5:09) And now, Dr. Watson, back to our final story. Speaker 7 (5:12) Well, Mr. Harris, when I was packing my fishing paraphernalia this morning, it put me in mind of the horrible catastrophe that interrupted a certain trip Holmes and I were indulging in. Fishing was one of the few sports, you know, that Holmes enjoyed. Yes, the last character in that tragic episode died just last winter. A poor lady who lived in a lodging house in total seclusion. Going out only at night, and then all was heavily veiled. Yes, I have finally decided to tell the case of the double tragedy at Abbas Parva. Speaker 3 (5:46) Abbas Parva. That's a curious name, Doctor. Was it in Italy? Speaker 7 (5:50) No, Mr. Harris. Abbas Parva is a small village in Berkshire. Rhonda's Circus had halted there for the night on its way to Wimbledon. They were simply camping and not exhibiting, as the place is so small it wouldn't have paid them to open. Speaker 3 (6:03) Rhonda's Circus. I don't believe I've heard of it, Doctor. Was it a big one? Speaker 7 (6:08) No, for those days, yes. Rhonda was at one time a household word in England and on the continent. I don't believe he ever went to the United States. He was the rival of Womwell and of Sanger, perhaps the greatest showman of his day. There is evidence, however, that he took to drink and that both he and his show were on the downgrade at the time of the great tragedy. Well, it was spring, and the trout season was on. Holmes and I had gone to Berkshire to a place we knew for a bit of fishing. Late one afternoon, we received a message from Rhonda's Circus that it was encamped in the neighbouring hamlet of Abbotspower. It seemed Jojo wanted to see us. It was a fine evening, so after supper, Holmes suggested we stroll over and have a chat with him. Jojo was an old friend of Sherlock Holmes. Speaker 3 (6:56) Mr. Holmes certainly had a great variety of acquaintances, Doctor. Everything from clowns to cabinet ministers. Yes, Speaker 7 (7:02) quite. And I rather suspect he preferred the clowns. He always said they were more human. Well, we found Jojo behind the cook tent smoking his evening pipe. The peculiar exhilarating smell that the circus carries with it hung heavy in the still air. I Speaker 3 (7:19) know. It's made up of animals and peanuts and sawdust and... Canvas and pink lemonade. Speaker 7 (7:25) That's as good a description as any, Mr. Harris. Well, everything looked peaceful enough, but there was an undercurrent of excitement about. Somewhere in the distance, a lion roared. Speaker 6 (7:44) What's wrong with that lion, Jojo? He sounds uneasy. Oh, you mean Sahara King. Getting near Speaker 5 (7:49) his feeding time. Sounds vicious, eh, Holmes? That he is, sir. Vicious. Came near the mauling genie when she went into his cage for last night's show. Who is genie? Well, now, don't tell me you don't know genie, Mr. Holmes. Well, Belle Eugenia, the greatest artist on a slack wire this country ever had, until she cut a ligament in her right leg one night last year when her drunken roustabout hadn't put up her equipment proper like. Yes, a fine girl, Jeannie, born and brought up on the sawdust and doing spring through a root before she was ten. The prettiest youngster you ever did see. Hair like red gold and cheeks as pink as roses. Well, she's only 28 now. And an handsome woman still, but... She's seen a bit of life, Mr. Holmes, and it's left its mark, I guess. Holmes? What happened? Well, when she was going on 18, she married Rhonda. You mean the man who owns this outfit? Yeah, that's him. August H. Rhonda. And there ain't a wild animal in any of his cages can touch him for pure downright meanness and cruelty. Well, didn't the young lady know that when she married him? Oh, she knew it right enough. Ain't anyone in show business to know about Rhonda. She married him to save her dad from going to prison. You see, Rhonda got him for forging a check. Some say it was a put-up job. And I'm not saying it wasn't likely. Seeing as Jeannie's father never learned to read or write, also, however, Rhonda seemed to think he had a case, so Jeannie married him to keep things hushed up. Yes, sir, that check was for 100 pounds, but I guess Jeannie has had a million pounds worth of suffering since then. Rhonda kept getting worse and worse. First it was drink, then women. And then... He took her, beating her up. The unmitigated blackguard. Yes. I kind of figure he hated her because he knew he wasn't fit to clean her boots. Always figuring out new ways to torture her. And when she fell and cut her leg and couldn't walk the wire anymore, he said she had to do something to earn a living. He put her in the cages, doing an act with the big cats. You mean the lions and tigers? Yes, Mr. Holmes. Well, Jeannie's always been afraid of them, ever since she was