The Notorious Dr Crippen | Devil's Breath | 3

In the Old Bailey, evidence piles up, tempers flare, and Hawley Crippen discovers that pyjamas can tell a damning story. Do you have a suggestion for a scandal you would like us to cover? Or perhaps you have a question you would like to ask our hosts? Email us at [email protected] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Alice Levine?

  Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of British Scandal ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. This episode contains graphic depictions of gore and violence. Listener discretion is advised. What are you up to, Matt?

• 0:14Matt Forde?

  I'm just filling in my passport form.

• 0:16Alice Levine?

  Oh, yeah.

• 0:17Matt Forde?

  Obviously, you need to get it counter-signed by someone from a credible profession.

• 0:20Alice Levine?

  Yeah.

• 0:20Matt Forde?

  Someone who, you know, is an upstanding member of society.

• 0:23Alice Levine?

  What are you thinking?

• 0:25Matt Forde?

  Um, I was thinking I'd get a lawyer.

• 0:28Alice Levine?

  Yeah, okay, yeah. I mean, not entirely uncontroversial.

• 0:32Matt Forde?

  Good point, yeah. I need, maybe like an industry that's more respected.

• 0:36Alice Levine?

  Unimpeachable.

• 0:37Matt Forde?

  Yes, like maybe, maybe journalists or tabloid editors.

• 0:42Alice Levine?

  Ugh, I don't know why. That makes me a bit nervous.

• 0:44Matt Forde?

  Oh, a member of the Catholic Church?

• 0:46Alice Levine?

  Why don't we just go back to the drawing board, maybe?

• 0:49Matt Forde?

  I see where you're nudging me with this. I need to effectively go higher up.

• 0:53Alice Levine?

  Yeah, just untarnished, no controversy, a profession that just like everybody loves and isn't gonna kind of raise any eyebrows.

• 1:01Matt Forde?

  How about Prince?

• 1:02Alice Levine?

  Just pick carefully out of the ones available.

• 1:09Alice Levine?

  Twenty-seventh of August, 1910, SS Magantic, just off Liverpool docks. Ethel follows the warder onto the deck, feels her stomach churn with nerves as the huge domed building at the pierhead comes into view. She pulls the veil from her hat low over her face and tries not to cry. This last month has been hell. The man she loves arrested, accused of a heinous crime. All she wants to do now is get home. She glances behind her, hopes to catch a glimpse of Horley, but he's not there. She hasn't spoken to him since Inspector Dew arrested him. She's desperate to see him, hear him say it's all a terrible mistake,

• 1:53Alice Levine?

  that Inspector Dew's got it all wrong. She cranes her neck now as they approach the dock. A massive crowd's crammed onto the quayside. A feeling of dread builds in her stomach as she watches people push their way forward. Vendors weaving through the crowd selling lemonade. Children climb onto their father's shoulders for a better view. A brass band strikes up, their instruments glisten in the sun. Ethel turns to her warder, her eyes full of confusion. Is the king here? The woman lets out a short laugh. The king? They ain't here for him, love.

• 2:33Alice Levine?

  She grabs the rail, trembling as the gangplank is lowered, reels as the crowd surges forward. She stares horrified as hundreds of angry, snarling people start booing, throwing eggs and rotten food. Jezebel! Hank Crippen and his whore! It's like Edinburgh, Matt.

• 2:53Matt Forde?

  For me, yeah. Not for everyone.

• 2:56Alice Levine?

  2016, what a year.

• 2:59Alice Levine?

  You gotta try these things!

• 3:01Matt Forde?

  It was concept. The concept was... I was trying to be funny, but they didn't get it.

• 3:08Alice Levine?

  She feels the ground give. The warder grips Ethel's arm, drags her down the rickety gangway. Hands reach up from the crowd, someone tears off her veil. Dirty bloody harlot! She flinches as the woman spits in her face. She gazes at her angry eyes, her bared teeth. Her hands shake as she wipes herself.

• 3:34Alice Levine?

  A few seconds later, she's in the car, looks back as a crowd of yelling people chase her. Her eyes fill with tears as she realizes. They think she helped Horley murder Belle Crippen.

• 3:48Alice Levine?

  She closes her eyes. She can't have them thinking this. She decides. She's going to clear her name, and clear Horley's. All she has to do is figure out how.

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• 5:18Alice Levine?

  I'm Alice Levine.

• 5:18Matt Forde?

  And I'm Matt Ford.

• 5:19Alice Levine?

  And this is British Scandal, an Audible original.

• 5:31Alice Levine?

  Now, Matt, last episode, we left Crippen and Jew staring at each other on a ship. Do you think that is the end of the story?

• 5:37Matt Forde?

  No. I've deduced that because this is episode three. But also no, because part of the problem is, what's the actual evidence? Inspector Jew still can't really prove that Crippen has killed his wife.

• 5:50Alice Levine?

  Yes, apart from running away, of course, and disguising his mistress as a boy and pretending she was his son, there's actually not an awful lot that's concrete, is there?

• 5:59Matt Forde?

  Yeah, and, you know, all that could be quite innocent. I mean, there is the small matter of the body in the cellar.

• 6:04Alice Levine?

  Yeah, but we don't have 100% proof that it's her, do we?

• 6:07Matt Forde?

  No, that's true, because he said his wife had run off. Then he said she was dead.

• 6:11Alice Levine?

  Yeah, so there's lots of confusion. We don't know which way it's going to go. What about Ethel, the aforementioned mistress? How are you feeling about her pity at the moment? What's the emotion?

• 6:20Matt Forde?

  On one hand, yes, because Crippen is a talented con man. And there are all sorts of different power dynamics here. He's 20 years older than her, he's her employer, he's a doctor. This is the 1910s, you know, he's got status over in every single way.

• 6:38Matt Forde?

  And I don't want to minimise the fact that she's effectively been manipulated and groomed by this guy. On the other hand, I do worry she's an idiot.

• 6:47Alice Levine?

  There's no real other way of putting it, is there? Well, we're about to see who she really is. This is episode three, Devil's Breath.

• 6:58Alice Levine?

  The following day, Brixton Prison.

• 7:03Alice Levine?

  Inspector Dew pulls down his bowler hat as his motor cab pushes through the crowd of journalists. Has Dr Crippen confessed? Is Ethel Leneuve being charged? When will the trial start, sir?

• 7:16Alice Levine?

  Dew grimaces at young boys clinging to the tops of lamp posts, eager for a sight of the notorious Crippen inside the prison. His eyes fall on a headline in the hands of a reporter. Moment of Crippen's arrest.

• 7:31Matt Forde?

  This is before we had pun headlines, this is pre The Sun.

• 7:36Alice Levine?

  I mean, this feels flat, doesn't it? Whereas Crippen be tripping or something. It doesn't really mean anything, but you know, it's fun.

• 7:43Matt Forde?

  Exactly. What you want to do is deliver horrendous news in a jaunty way. And that's what keeps the public entertained and simultaneously livid.

• 7:52Alice Levine?

  Beneath the headline, a photo of Dew leading Crippen down the gamplank of the Montrose in Canada. He looks away. It's been 24 hours since the Magantic docked in Liverpool and brought Crippen back to Britain. Dew is finally going to interview him today. And this time, he intends to secure a confession. He slides down the seat, waits until they've driven to the prison's side entrance, then jumps out and makes his way into the dark recesses.

• 8:26Alice Levine?

  A few minutes later, Dew is seated in a tiny room with a barred window. He gets to his feet as Crippen walks in, flanked by two burly guards. His hands are manacled. Heavy wool prison flannels swamp his small frame.

• 8:42Alice Levine?

  Inspector, how lovely to see you again. Dew purses his lips at the mockery in Crippen's voice, sits down and plants his hands on the desk. He isn't here for small talk. We've uncovered most of your wife's remains.

• 9:00Alice Levine?

  Crippen blinks at him behind his round spectacle. We don't know what you did with the head, or hands. Not yet. Crippen says nothing. But we've identified her through her abdominal scar. Dew feels unnerved by Crippen's calmness. Straightening his back, he carries on. Her body was dismembered by someone who knew what they were doing. A professional. A doctor. He lets the word hang, but Crippen's blue eyes don't blink. Dew leans back, reaches into his pocket. Take a look at this.

• 9:41Alice Levine?

  Crippen studies the photograph, then looks up in confusion. What is this? This photograph was taken at the crime scene. Take a closer look. Doctor.

• 9:55Alice Levine?

  Dew smiles as a bead of sweat breaks out on Crippen's forehead. He sees Crippen's eyes lock on a piece of fabric contained with Bell's remains. Your pajamas, I believe. Dew watches a sardonic smile appear on his face. Is that so, Inspector? Crippen taps the photograph. A scar on some flesh, a scrap of some mass-produced fabric. Half the men in England have these pajamas. And without a head, you can't even be sure it's Bell.

• 10:30Matt Forde?

  I mean, also, I'm sad looking at this. That's my main feeling, actually, is because I'm not a psychopath.

• 10:35Alice Levine?

  I mean, I haven't done this, so I am repulsed by this very graphic image.

• 10:40Matt Forde?

  I've never seen anything like this before.

• 10:41Alice Levine?

  And I'm not showing it, and I am focusing on the fabric of the pyjamas, but this is distressing.

• 10:46Matt Forde?

  You brought the pyjamas up, so then I had to respond to that. My first, and please just, I want this, I, these make me feel really sad inside.

• 10:53Alice Levine?

  And I miss Belle. My god, I miss her. Dew feels his blood chill as Crippen's eyes harden. I think I'll take my chance with the jury. Take him out. Dew lights a cigar to calm his anger, rubs at his forehead. The truth is, Crippen's right. Every piece of evidence they have is circumstantial. Dew knows it can all be argued away in a court of law. If the jury believes Crippen, the most famous murder case in Britain will collapse. Scotland Yard will be a laughingstock. Dew will be finished, and Crippen will be free.

• 11:36Alice Levine?

  He jumps to his feet, snatches up his bowler hat, and storms out. If Crippen refuses to talk, then he'll have to find someone who will.

• 11:55Alice Levine?

  A few days later, Southend on Sea. Ethel Leneve edges to the window, cautiously pulls back the curtain, feels her stomach grip as she looks at the crowd of newspaper men. Miss Leneve, any words for your father? She jolts back, her face clouds with confusion. She looks at her sister Nina. Dad? Why are they talking about dad? She rushes to the door, snatches the newspaper from the mat, and gasps in horror at the headline. My Daughter and Crippen. The colour drains from Ethel's face as she reads. Her father's words stare back at her from the page.

• 12:37Alice Levine?

  How Horley used to ply her with gifts, flowers, perfume. Later, a full set of false teeth. It notes how she was smitten from the start. How her father warned her not to get involved with a married man. How she was too headstrong to listen. Ethel crushes the paper in her hands. Pushes down the bitter feeling of betrayal.

• 13:03Alice Levine?

  She jumps at the bang on the front door. Curses under her breath. Feels her anger rise as she yanks it open, ready to scream at the reporters. But stops dead in her tracks. It's Inspector Dew. He lifts his bowler hat and bows slightly.

• 13:25Alice Levine?

  A few minutes later, Ethel sits stiffly, staring at her lap while the inspector calmly stirs his tea. You know I can help you, Ethel.

• 13:35Alice Levine?

  I can clear away all these men. Put a policeman on the door. But only if you tell me everything Hawley told you about Belle's death. He didn't hurt her. He couldn't. Not Hawley.

• 13:49Alice Levine?

  But Dew ignores her. How did he kill her, Ethel?

• 13:54Alice Levine?

  Her breath catches. Where did he cut up the body? She begins to shake. Where are the hands? She goes cold. Hot tears run down her face. She hears her terrified voice cry out. Stop it!

• 14:13Alice Levine?

  But he keeps going. Where is the head? Her sister stands up. Enough, Inspector. My sister has told you everything she knows.

• 14:25Alice Levine?

  But Dew takes a photograph from his pocket. Slams it down in front of her. Ethel looks down. A dark-haired woman gazes back at her from the picture. Ethel, this is Charlotte Crippen. Hawley's first wife. Ethel gasps for breath. Married in San Diego. She told friends he was trying to kill her. She died a few years later. Found unconscious. A large bruise at the base of her skull.

• 14:59Matt Forde?

  Here we shall forget this, Crippen has already been married and his first wife also died in suspicious circumstances.

• 15:07Alice Levine?

  Matt, you're being alarmist. We don't know Belle's dead, she's just missing.

• 15:10Matt Forde?

  Yeah, but if, I think if you met someone and they said, "Look, my first wife died, suspicious circumstances. My second wife may be dead, I don't really know."

• 15:19Alice Levine?

  They've got remains that look like her, but what does that prove?

• 15:21Matt Forde?

  Exactly. Do you want to go for dinner? Do you feel reassured by that or not reassured?

• 15:27Alice Levine?

  Do you know what this tells you though? That a doctor is sexy no matter what.

• 15:31Matt Forde?

  Something about doctors.

• 15:32Alice Levine?

  Sorry, two dead wives, looked like you did it. Doctor, you say?

• 15:37Matt Forde?

  Okay, that's stuff that's going.

• 15:40Alice Levine?

  Ethel wants to look away, but she can't take her eyes off the woman. Dewsnatches it back. She watches his cold eyes look at the newspaper, then back at her. "I can make your life easier, Ethel, or much, much harder."

• 15:59Alice Levine?

  Her vision blurs with tears. She hears her own shaky voice cry out. "I don't know anything."

• 16:07Alice Levine?

  Nina pulls on the parlor door. "Get out."

• 16:12Alice Levine?

  Ethel curls in on herself. She can't stop trembling. She can hardly breathe. She looks up as Nina grips her hand. "Nina, what if it's true?" Ethel wipes her eyes, looks back at the closed door and decides she has to hear it from Hawley himself. Look him in the eye and make him tell her the truth.

• 16:39Alice Levine?

  Five days later, outside Brixton Prison, London. Ethel steps down from the pony trap and looks up at the towering prison walls. The small barred windows stare down at her like empty eyes. She feels her stomach gripped with fear. She's written to Hawley several times, but this is the first time she'll see him face to face since his arrest. And she's dreading it.

• 17:08Alice Levine?

  A few minutes later, she sits on a narrow bench in the prison visitors' hall. Nervously tugs down her blue woolen jacket, recoils as a bearded prisoner is led past. She covers her mouth against the sudden stench, freezes as he stops in front of her. Ethel. Ethel looks up, startled. Takes in the man's matted hair and pallid skin, his grimy face. Hawley.

• 17:37Alice Levine?

  She wants to reach out, touch him. Instead, she forces herself to stutter. Hawley, I... I...

• 17:47Alice Levine?

  She'd had it all planned out. The questions she'd talked through with Nina. But as she sits opposite him, all she can do is shake. He leans forward, gently rests his hands near hers on the table. Ethel, I know why you're here. The things you must have read about me in the newspapers. He shakes his head sadly. I can't imagine how hard this is for you. A sob escapes her throat. You know I couldn't do any of those terrible things. Those remains could belong to anyone. They could have been there for years. But Inspector Dew said... He leans back, sighs. Inspector Dew has no proof of anything.

• 18:32Alice Levine?

  You can't let him bully you into thinking otherwise, Ethel. Has he been hounding you? She looks at him in surprise, nods. Yes, he was... She blinks up at him, at his large, mournful eyes. She's about to continue when he cuts in. This is Belle's revenge. She frowns. Belle?

• 18:56Alice Levine?

  He sits forward. She hated that we fell in love. It's her way of punishing me, of punishing us. I believe she's convinced Inspector Dew to... She watches as he pauses. To what, Hawley? Inspector Dew, a man so desperate to save his own reputation, he'll do anything for a win. He leans forward even further, whispers. I'm convinced the inspector's planted evidence against me. She feels her eyes widen. Inspector Dew, is it possible? She blinks around at the guards near the door, then back at Hawley. She looks at his kind, earnest face. She's framed me, Ethel.

• 19:40Alice Levine?

  Belle's still alive, I know she is, but... He holds up his manacled hands. How can I prove it? She jumps with a start as the guards drag him to his feet. Time's up! Here's her own desperate voice call out. Please, just a few more minutes!

• 20:00Matt Forde?

  Oh, go on then.

• 20:03Matt Forde?

  Oh, we're so soft in olden-time prisons.

• 20:05Alice Levine?

  You two love birds, go on!

• 20:11Alice Levine?

  Ethel walks out into the street, gasps as the fresh air hits her face. Then looks back at the grimy prison walls and decides: If poor Hawley can't find Belle himself, then she will. She's going to save the man she loves and get him out of that horrible place if it's the last thing she does.

• 20:44Alice Levine?

  Thirteenth of October, 1910, St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. Inspector Dew slips quietly into the lecture theatre, slides onto a wooden bench at the back. In the centre of the room, Dr Pepper is bent over an elderly male cadaver laid out on a metal table.

• 21:01Matt Forde?

  I've forgotten about Dr Pepper, and I Googled this, so this is 1910. Dr Pepper was invented in 1885?

• 21:09Alice Levine?

  No, it sort of tastes a bit like it was. It's sort of like a medicinal ye olde beverage, isn't it?

• 21:15Matt Forde?

  You drank the first can.

• 21:18Alice Levine?

  Dew flinches as Pepper prizes open the ribcage of the body.

• 21:22Matt Forde?

  Ah!

• 21:26Alice Levine?

  The crack echoes around the room. A few moments later, he holds up the man's blackened lung.

• 21:34Matt Forde?

  As you can see, the tissue is stiff, thickened, traces of scarring throughout.

• 21:39Alice Levine?

  Dew watches the medical students scribble in their notebooks, impatiently taps his fingers against the wooden bench.

• 21:46Matt Forde?

  Causes of death, anyone?

• 21:48Alice Levine?

  A sea of hands shoot up. Dew leans back and lights a cigar.

• 21:55Alice Levine?

  Dew is here to speak with the pathologist. Crippen and Ethel are both refusing to cooperate, so he's hoping Dr Pepper has some good news. When the lecture's over, Dew heads down to the dissecting table, watches the doctor scrub his hands in a tiny sink. I got your message, you said it was urgent? Pepper dries his hands then takes a sheet of paper from his briefcase.

• 22:20Speaker 04

  The toxicology report on Mrs Crippen, it's finally come back. We've found traces of hyacinth hydrobromide in the viscera.

• 22:29Alice Levine?

  Dew raises an eyebrow. Which is?

• 22:35Speaker 04

  Commonly known as devil's breath. Dew, she was poisoned. A few grains of this in a drink, she stood no chance.

• 22:43Alice Levine?

  Dew gasps. You're certain? Pepper nods.

• 22:48Speaker 04

  From the amount still in her body, I'd say she was given one hell of a dose. A small amount would have put her in a stupor, but the amount we found would have led to agitation and delirium. Terrible way to die.

• 23:02Alice Levine?

  Dew looks at the report in his hand, at the words, hyacinth hydrobromide, then back at Pepper. Doctor, where can I get a list of suppliers? The following day, Dew stands in front of a closed shop in New Oxford Street, feels his shoulders slump. He's been to every chemist on the list, none have a record of selling hyacinth to Hawley Crippen. He bangs on the door one last time, when he notices a curtain move at the window. A thin elderly man stares out at him. Dew looks down at his notes.

• 23:47Alice Levine?

  He sees a flash of fear in the chemist's eyes before the man flips the closed sign to open.

• 23:54Alice Levine?

  Dew's hit by a pungent smell of cloves, wet sawdust, and ether as he enters. He takes in the apothecary jars lining the shelves, a taxidermied baby crocodile, and a turtle shell hanging from a rafter.

• 24:09Matt Forde?

  Chemists have changed.

• 24:11Alice Levine?

  Sounds like big boots to me.

• 24:12Matt Forde?

  I remember I'd go to the chemist as a kid. They would sell, obviously, medicine.

• 24:16Alice Levine?

  Yeah.

• 24:17Matt Forde?

  And prescriptions, and then, tons of sweets.

• 24:21Alice Levine?

  It's a Huel-based culture now.

• 24:22Matt Forde?

  Huel, and it's fragrance. They're basically, you know, if you're ill, what you need is...

• 24:27Alice Levine?

  Two spritzers of Britney by Britney.

• 24:29Matt Forde?

  Yeah.

• 24:31Alice Levine?

  Dew leans on the counter. I'm Inspector Dew. I know who you are. I've read about the case. Just show me the ledger.

• 24:43Alice Levine?

  Dew takes the giant book. His finger runs down a list of names. But his excitement starts to fade as he turns page after page, until he stabs a name with his fingernail. Dr. Crippen. Again, and again, and again. Crushed blister beetles, brain oil, leeches, and then finally, hyacinth hydromide.

• 25:10Alice Levine?

  I wouldn't have sold him anything if I'd known what he was capable of. But Dew isn't listening. Purchased on the 19th of January this year, one month before Bill Crippen disappeared.

• 25:23Alice Levine?

  Dew stares at Crippen's name, at his signature, proof directly linking Crippen with Belle's cause of death.

• 25:33Alice Levine?

  He spins, sees DS Mitchell in the doorway. Dew grins, until he spots a look of confusion on Mitchell's face. Mitchell walks towards him, leans forward, and whispers in his ear. We've received... New information, sir. Dew looks at him as Mitchell lowers his voice even further. Sir, it's Belle Crippen. She's still alive.

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• 27:18Alice Levine?

  The following day, Clara Martinetti's house, central London. Inspector Dew studies the photograph on the mantelpiece. Clara Martinetti, dressed in satin as a fairy godmother in a pantomime. Then watches her pour two cups of tea. He reaches into his pocket for the letter Belle sent to Brixton Prison, turns it over in his hands. He needs to know who else Belle has reached out to. He also needs to keep it out of the press. Showing Belle's old friend Clara Martinetti is a gamble, but it's one he has to take. He pushes the letter towards her, watching her eyes dart across the page. When she looks up at him, her eyes are shining.

• 28:02Alice Levine?

  Oh my goodness, she's alive! Her eyes scan the letter, then Dew sees a darkness cloud her face as she reads.

• 28:12Speaker 04

  "Your life is worthless to me, Hawley. However, I don't want to be responsible for your demise." I'm happy now. I wish you no ill.

• 28:24Alice Levine?

  When she looks back at him, her expression has crumpled.

• 28:27Speaker 04

  That's not her.

• 28:29Alice Levine?

  Dew feels a jolt. He watches Clara stand, rush to her bureau, then returns with a bundle of letters, holding one out to him.

• 28:39Speaker 04

  This is the last thing I ever received from Belle.

• 28:43Matt Forde?

  It's a meme of...

• 28:46Alice Levine?

  A monkey. Now, we use it for when somebody gets a new coat or feels quite flush in something.

• 28:52Matt Forde?

  And I replied with that one of the guy tapping his forehead like that. So that was a very clever meme.

• 28:58Alice Levine?

  She sits next to him, puts the two letters together. Dew studies the neat hand with its flourishes and curls. It looks identical, but Clara points at a sentence, traces it with her finger.

• 29:12Speaker 04

  The slant here on the G's, it's different. The capital E's, see the loops. It's missing here.

• 29:20Alice Levine?

  Dew's neck muscles bunch. He gets to his feet, his anger rising. He stares at the postmark.

• 29:27Speaker 04

  I can't understand how he's done that.

• 29:31Alice Levine?

  Clara snaps back without missing a beat.

• 29:33Speaker 04

  Can't you?

• 29:35Alice Levine?

  He stares at her.

• 29:36Speaker 04

  If I were you inspector, I'd start with that harlot typist of his.

• 29:47Alice Levine?

  Two hours later Dew sits with Ethel and Eve in her sister's house. He grits his teeth, fights hard to contain his fury.

• 29:55Speaker 04

  I need you to make a written statement. Everything Holly's told you about Belle's disappearance.

• 30:01Alice Levine?

  She purses her lips, her eyes slide to the writing bureau, then back to him.

• 30:07Speaker 04

  I've already done that.

• 30:08Alice Levine?

  He slams down a blank sheet onto the desk.

• 30:11Speaker 04

  Now!

• 30:12Alice Levine?

  He watches her nervously pick up the pen and start to write. After a few sentences, Dew snatches the paper, reaches into his pocket, unfolds the letter. His shoulders tighten as he compares the writing. He glares at her, holds up the letter. She starts to tremble.

• 30:32Speaker 04

  You forged this!

• 30:35Alice Levine?

  I... I don't know what you mean. He snarls.

• 30:39Speaker 04

  Give me one good reason why I-

• 30:41Alice Levine?

  I shouldn't arrest you now. She covers her face with her hands. I only wanted to help him. Dew storms out. He won't waste another minute on this nonsense. His focus must be on Crippen. He waits until his nerves have calmed. His mind clicks into place. He's got Bell's remains. He's linked the poison directly to Crippen. His man tried to flee halfway around the world. It must be enough.

• 31:12Alice Levine?

  He's got three days until the trial starts. And when it does, he's going to nail Crippen.

• 31:24Alice Levine?

  Eighteenth of October, nineteen ten, outside the Old Bailey. Hawley steps down from the black police van. It's the first day of his trial. And he's determined to prove once and for all that every piece of evidence that wretched Inspector Dew thinks he might have is entirely circumstantial. He feels a sharp tug on his handcuffs as a policeman drags him through the yelling crowd. A word for our readers, Dr. Crippen. Is it true your wife's still alive?

• 32:02Alice Levine?

  An hour later, he crosses the floor of the hushed courtroom, smiles politely at the jury. A dozen well-dressed men stare back at him. He grips the stand as the prosecution barrister, Richard Muir, K.C., tightens his thin lips, and sweeps towards him.

• 32:19Speaker 04

  On the morning of February first this year, were you alone at home with your wife?

• 32:24Alice Levine?

  He blinks through his glasses, keeps his gaze steady.

• 32:27Speaker 04

  Yes, I was. Do you know of anyone in the world who's seen her alive since?

• 32:33Alice Levine?

  He raises his eyebrows.

• 32:35Speaker 04

  Bell told me she was leaving me. She was going back to the States.

• 32:39Alice Levine?

  Muir nods, his voice sharpens. Were you unfaithful to your wife, Dr. Crippen? Hawley blinks at the gallery. Ethel is staring down at him, her face pale, her eyes wide.

• 32:52Speaker 04

  I fell in love with another woman. That's not illegal or unusual. I'm sure other men can attest to that.

• 33:00Matt Forde?

  Call my first witness.

• 33:03Alice Levine?

  Men.

• 33:04Matt Forde?

  Just all men.

• 33:07Alice Levine?

  He hears a few shuffles in seats, until Muir steps towards him. Did you buy five grains of hyacinth hydrobromide on the 19th of January this year? His pulse starts to race.

• 33:19Speaker 04

  Hyacinth?

• 33:21Alice Levine?

  Muir holds the ledger above his head like a trophy. It's a poison, Dr. Crippen, as I'm sure you're aware. Hawley blinks as Muir raises his booming voice. Found in the abdomen and intestines of the remains discovered in your cellar. His fist tightens as Muir strides towards him, his cloak billowing.

• 33:44Speaker 04

  This is the sales ledger from Lewis and Burrows Chemist in New Oxford Street.

• 33:49Alice Levine?

  You bought five grains one month before your wife disappeared. Why did you buy so much poison, Dr. Crippen?

• 33:58Matt Forde?

  It's good to have it, isn't it?

• 34:00Alice Levine?

  I hate buying it as you go. You don't want to nip out for a poison. You want to buy an iron pack. Economy of scale, duh. Hawley glances over at Alfred Tobin, his sharply dressed lawyer. Watches his eyes dart around in panic. He takes a deep breath, steadies himself, clears his throat.

• 34:20Speaker 04

  I needed it to prepare my remedies for travel sickness. Of course, some of my patients prefer champagne for seasickness. I believe that also works.

• 34:31Alice Levine?

  He smiles as a ripple of laughter runs around the room, feels his shoulders soften a little. Muir purses his lips, nods to a court usher. He watches alarmed as the usher carries a large white pudding dish over to the jury. He squints as the lid is lifted. He reels back in horror as they take in a lump of grey flesh. It's part of a human abdomen. His heart jumps to his throat as it's passed along the jury. One of the men prods at the body path, another starts to retch. The room chills. He feels the walls close in as Muir barks at him.

• 35:15Alice Levine?

  "You poisoned your wife, buried her remains in your cellar, then ran off to Canada with your mistress, did you not, Dr Crippen?" Hawley catches Inspector Dew's eye, staring at him with glee. This is dire. He needs to find a way to distance himself from these remains, and fast, because if he doesn't, he's a dead man.

• 35:54Alice Levine?

  The following day, Old Bailey. Dew pushes his way through the clamoring reporters, snaps out.

• 36:01Speaker 04

  "I've nothing to say, gentlemen, excuse me."

• 36:05Alice Levine?

  He ducks inside, takes his seat as Crippen is led into the courtroom. He lets a smile spread across his face, then feels it freeze when he catches sight of the glint in Crippen's eye. Dew looks up, startled, as a new witness is called to the stand. "Dr Gilbert Turnbull, Director of the Pathological Institute at the London Hospital." Dew frowns, watches Crippen's barrister, Alfred Tobin, gesture to the remains in the white dish. "You have examined the evidence, have you not, Dr Turnbull?" Turnbull's bald head glistens under the electric lights as he nods. "And in your professional opinion, is this a scar on an abdomen?"

• 36:47Alice Levine?

  Turnbull shakes his head. I'd say it's a fold in the flesh. In fact, it may not be part of the abdomen at all. It could be part of a thigh. Dew feels sweat pool under his armpits. He stares at Turnbull horrified as Tobin presses on. And judging by these remains, can you date the time of death for us? Turnbull juts out his bearded chin. They could have been lying there for months, even years. Tobin sweeps around to the jury. Could they predate Dr. Crippen and his wife moving into the house in Hilldrop Crescent in 1905? Dew lurches forward, feels his heart race as Turnbull answers.

• 37:31Alice Levine?

  In my opinion, yes. It's impossible to give them a precise date.

• 37:39Matt Forde?

  I mean, isn't that part of the problem, that your evidence is a piece of decomposing flesh?

• 37:43Alice Levine?

  With modern tools, of course, you would be able to judge how long that had been there.

• 37:46Matt Forde?

  Yeah, you just swipe your iPhone over it and it's give you the exact time, date and cause of death.

• 37:51Alice Levine?

  And a lovely montage of memories with that cadaver.

• 37:54Matt Forde?

  I don't like the music they've set it to.

• 37:59Alice Levine?

  Dew staggers to his feet, rushes into the corridor, leans against a cool marble pillar and tries to stop his heart racing. He spots Dr. Pepper, catches his arm.

• 38:11Speaker 04

  Could it be true?

• 38:12Alice Levine?

  Pepper raises his thick eyebrows.

• 38:15Speaker 04

  I'm afraid whoever mixed quicklime with water preserved the remains. So, yes, it is possible.

• 38:22Alice Levine?

  Dew reels back, then spits out. But the poison in her system, surely that can't be ignored.

• 38:28Speaker 04

  The hyacinth could have been there for years too. Unlikely, but possible.

• 38:34Alice Levine?

  He watches Pepper walk away. Dew stands winded. He reaches out to steady himself for a moment, takes a breath, then straightens up and marches out.

• 38:49Alice Levine?

  Thirty minutes later, he stands in his office.

• 38:53Alice Levine?

  He stares at the evidence board, at the jumble of pictures and notes, follows a line of red string from the photograph of Bell's remains to the poison, follows another to the pyjama fabric. He stands back, lights a cigar, tries to figure out what he's missing. He must be able to date the remains.

• 39:16Alice Levine?

  He stares at the photographs of the abdomen.

• 39:20Alice Levine?

  His eyes widen as it hits him: the pyjamas. He's always taken Crippen's word that they're mass-produced, but what if they weren't? He snatches down the photograph, studies it hard, then grabs his bowler hat and marches out.

• 39:39Alice Levine?

  This trial ends tomorrow, and right now, his entire case is in danger of collapsing. But if he can find out who sold Crippen those pyjamas and when, he just might be in with a chance.

• 40:01Alice Levine?

  The next day, the Old Bailey. Hawley straightens his back, folds his hands behind him, looks directly at his barrister. Turnbull's testimony has gone down even better than he'd hoped, and today, he's determined to paint a picture of his miserable marriage and get as much sympathy from the jury as he can.

• 40:23Speaker 04

  We took in lodgers, two young men. My wife, she had sex with them both. She made me serve them their food, polish their shoes. She treated me like a servant.

• 40:37Alice Levine?

  Voice catch.

• 40:38Speaker 04

  It was beyond humiliating.

• 40:42Matt Forde?

  And then more people came and she had sex with them. Muggins here was in the kitchen the whole time. None for me, Your Honour. None for me.

• 40:51Alice Levine?

  He watches a few men in the jury box shake their heads, scribble down notes.

• 40:56Speaker 04

  That's why I was happy when she left me. My crime, if it is one, was to fall in love with Miss Lanive.

• 41:03Alice Levine?

  Crippen jumps as Inspector Dew bursts in. Watches alarmed as he whispers something to the prosecution barrister. The courtroom is silent. Then Muir rises to his feet, holding something above his head. Hawley screws up his eyes, trying to see what it is.

• 41:21Speaker 04

  You own a pair of pyjamas in this fabric, do you not?

• 41:25Alice Levine?

  Hawley stares at it, feels his pulse quicken.

• 41:30Speaker 04

  Yes, along with most other men in England. I've explained to Inspector Dew.

• 41:36Alice Levine?

  But Muir ignores him and holds the fragment high.

• 41:40Speaker 04

  You or your wife bought two pairs in this fabric from Jones Brothers, delivered to you on the 5th of January this year. This particular piece was found wrapped around the remains dug from your basement.

• 41:55Alice Levine?

  Hawley feels his heart start to thump.

• 41:58Speaker 04

  As I said, sir, a lot of men own this type of pyjama.

• 42:03Alice Levine?

  Muir raises an eyebrow.

• 42:06Speaker 04

  Not so, Doctor. Are you aware this particular pattern is very new? In fact, it didn't exist until 12 months ago.

• 42:16Alice Levine?

  Hawley reels back as Muir fixes him with a glare.

• 42:20Speaker 04

  In fact, you were one of the first to buy it. Which means the remains in your cellar were buried after January this year.

• 42:33Alice Levine?

  Hawley feels the colour drain from his face. The room spins as Muir barks at him.

• 42:40Speaker 04

  You killed Belle, didn't you? With poison you bought. Dismembered her body, wrapped her remains in your new pyjamas, and buried her under the cellar floor. Did you not, Doctor Crippen?

• 42:54Alice Levine?

  Hawley can't breathe. All he can hear is his heart thudding in his ears. Before he can stop himself, he yells.

• 43:03Speaker 04

  I'm innocent, innocent!

• 43:09Alice Levine?

  Half an hour later, he's led back to the dock for the verdict. His neck pulses as he stares at the jury. He wipes his sweating palms on his jacket as the jury foreman steps forward.

• 43:22Alice Levine?

  We find the prisoner guilty. The courtroom erupts around him. He looks up, sees Ethel collapse sobbing. He grabs the side of the dock for support. An usher calls for silence. Hawley feels the ground give from under his feet as the judge puts a black cap on his head and turns to him.

• 43:44Speaker 04

  Holy Harvey Crippen, you have been convicted upon evidence that you cruelly poisoned your wife, mutilated her body, disposed of her remains. You will be taken to Pentonville Prison.

• 43:58Alice Levine?

  He tries to stay upright as the words pierce him.

• 44:02Speaker 04

  From thence, to a place of execution. And that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead.

• 44:09Alice Levine?

  He jolts forward, yells at the judge. I didn't do it. I didn't do it!

• 44:16Alice Levine?

  But a pair of hands drag him away and bundle him down to the dark cells below.

• 44:28Speaker 07

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• 44:58Alice Levine?

  Hey, what's up, guys? It's Haley Bailey. Okay, I need to tell you about something. I just got YouTube Premium. It's got tons of awesome features like offline downloads, so I can download my favorite videos before I travel and watch them whenever I don't have Wi-Fi. Because we all know airplane Wi-Fi is the worst. I get ad-free, I get background play, and there's like a ton more.

• 45:15Speaker 06

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• 46:14Alice Levine?

  A week later, Finchley Cemetery. Dew takes a deep breath, looks down into the freshly dug grave, folds his hands in front of him as the coffin is lowered into the ground. He's surrounded by hundreds of mourners, mostly women in black taffeta, their faces covered by veils.

• 46:36Alice Levine?

  He glances at the cemetery gates, at the crowd beyond.

• 46:41Alice Levine?

  Like him, they've all turned out to pay Belle Crippen their respects. He looks back at the polished oak and brass coffin. It's covered in Belle's favorite flowers: white chrysanthemums, carnations, lily of the valley. He bows his head now as the priest sprinkles holy water on it before it's covered with earth.

• 47:04Alice Levine?

  Afterwards, he shakes hands with women from the Music Hall Ladies Guild. Clara Martinetti lifts her black veil. Her eyes are raw with grief. She thanks him quietly, then stares off into the middle distance.

• 47:20Speaker 04

  All those lies he told about Belle. She didn't have an affair, Inspector. And he never cleaned up after any lodgers. Every word he said in that courtroom was a lie.

• 47:31Alice Levine?

  Dew opens his mouth, but he's not sure what to say. Instead, he shakes her hand, nods, then makes his way back to Scotland Yard. He steps into the building, his head bowed. He suddenly feels exhausted. A thought flickers. Perhaps it's time to retire. Leave these grisly murders for younger men to solve. He's about to walk into his office when he stops in his tracks. Uniformed officers line the corridor, their black hats under their arms.

• 48:04Speaker 04

  What the blazes is going on?

• 48:08Alice Levine?

  He steps back, slack-jawed, as everyone starts to applaud. People smiling, clapping him on the back. Dew's face flushes. He looks up at the wall, at a framed photograph of him arresting Crippen on the SS Montrose. The weight of it hits him. Catching that monster is a victory for the entire force. For morale, the Met's reputation, and if he admits it, his own pride. But most of all, he's finally got justice for Belle Crippen.

• 48:54Alice Levine?

  23rd of November, 1910, Pentonville Prison. Hawley sits at the tiny wooden desk, stares at the scuffed, dirty wall in front of him. His last breakfast of boiled eggs sits untouched in front of him.

• 49:09Matt Forde?

  Sorry, that's just soft-boiled. I guess you could play for time.

• 49:12Alice Levine?

  I'm a six-minuter.

• 49:13Matt Forde?

  Keep sending the eggs back, mate. I'd have it. It's working.

• 49:17Alice Levine?

  I've been here six months. In a few minutes, he'll be taken from his cell to the executioner. He wants to spend his final minutes writing to Ethel, but he can't stop shaking. He takes a breath, tries to push down his growing terror, starts to write.

• 49:35Speaker 04

  My darling, my heart is bursting with the pain of longing for you. Your love has been the best thing in my life, my only happiness. However vile I am, I am grateful to the end you loved me.

• 49:49Matt Forde?

  However vile I am, it feels like a confession. Being vile is just one of the strings on my bow. Is it a crime? It's a crime to be vile. It's frowned upon, sure.

• 50:02Alice Levine?

  He looks up with a start, sees the warden, and behind him a Catholic priest trailing behind him. The warden steps forward.

• 50:11Speaker 04

  It's time.

• 50:13Alice Levine?

  Hawley rises, follows them both across the foggy courtyard. Every step heavy. Walks slowly up to the scaffold and stands in front of the masked hangman.

• 50:26Alice Levine?

  Seconds later, a white hood is in front of him.

• 50:29Speaker 04

  Stop!

• 50:30Alice Levine?

  He looks at the warden, tries to stop his voice cracking.

• 50:35Speaker 04

  I have letters and photographs from Ethel in my cell. Will you bury them with me?

• 50:42Alice Levine?

  The warden nods. The hangman shoves the hood over Hawley's head, plunges him into darkness. He can hear the priest praying at his side, his own heartbeat flooding in his ears.

• 50:55Alice Levine?

  All he wants in his final moments is to see Ethel's image. He feels someone guide him now, above the trapdoor, feels the straps tighten around his legs. He closes his eyes, tries to conjure up her smiling face, but it's Belle who fills the darkness. Belle on the night he murdered her. Her face, her whole body, twisted in agony from the poison he gave her in her nighttime brandy. Hawley, please! Help me!

• 51:27Alice Levine?

  How she writhed in agony for an hour, too. How endless it felt, how terrified he was she'd recover.

• 51:37Alice Levine?

  He feels the rope tighten around his neck, sees his own hand load bullets into his gun. The terror in her eyes, her pleading voice. Holy no! The rope around his neck tugs sharply as he puts the gun between her eyes, squeezes the trigger as the trapdoor opens, and hurtles through the darkness.

• 52:21Alice Levine?

  Inspector Ju became an international celebrity after solving the Crippen case. In December 1910, he retired from the Metropolitan Police to become a private detective. After Crippen's execution, Ethel and Eve tried to start a new life in Canada, but returned to London within a year. In 1915, she married Stanley Smith, a man said to look exactly like Hawley Crippen, and had two children. She died in Croydon in August 1967. Her children had no idea about her past life until it was revealed who she really was by a crime journalist in the 1980s. Some argue that she not only knew about Belle's death, but that she played a part in her murder.

• 53:06Alice Levine?

  The debate over Crippen's guilt has never entirely faded. Some have echoed his portrayal of Belle as an overbearing wife, despite contrary accounts from those who knew her. In 2007, tests suggested that the remains in the cellar may have traces of male DNA. However, this finding was not peer-reviewed and remains highly contested.

• 53:39Alice Levine?

  From Audible Originals and Samizdat Audio, this is the third episode in our series, The Notorious Dr. Crippen.

• 53:45Matt Forde?

  A quick note about our dialogue: in most cases, we can't know exactly what was said, but all our dramatizations are based on historical research.

• 53:53Alice Levine?

  If you'd like to know more about this story, you can read Story of a Murder by Hallie Rubenhold and Dr. Crippen: The Infamous London Seller Murder of 1910 by Nicholas Connell. British Scandal is hosted by me, Alice Levine.

• 54:05Matt Forde?

  And me, Matt Ford.

• 54:06Alice Levine?

  Written by Karen Laws. Additional writing by Alice Levine and Matt Ford. Our story editor was James Maniak. Sound design by Daniel King. Our engineer was Jai Williams. For Samizdat, our series producer was Chica Ayers. Our assistant producer was Louise Mason. Our senior producers were Joe Sykes and Dashilis Zina. Executive producers for Audible with Theodora Luedis and Astelle Doyle.

• 54:41Alice Levine?

  I'm Gemma Whelan, and in the new season of The Spy Who, we tell the story of the original femme fatale, the spy who was Mata Hari, a famous dancer turned World War I secret agent accused of seducing Allied officers to uncover their plans. But was she a temptress or a scapegoat for French failures? Follow The Spy Who now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen to the full season of The Spy Who Was Mata Hari, early and ad-free on Audible.

• 55:12Speaker 07

  For decades, two legendary brands fought for the hearts of American bikers: Indian Motorcycle and Harley-Davidson. The battle looked a lot like Coke versus Pepsi or Ford versus Chevy, but tastes changed and Indian didn't adapt fast enough. The icon all but died. Then came the con men, the dreamers, a string of spectacular failures that kept Indian in the grave, until one company finally got it right. This is the story of an improbable revival and the reignition of an old rivalry. Hey, I'm David Brown, the host of the podcast Business Wars, and every- Every season, we bring you the true stories behind the companies that shape our world. Indian's new owners are going all in, but an existential crisis looms. Can Indian and Harley recruit enough younger riders to survive?

• 55:55Speaker 07

  Make sure to follow Business Wars wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Business Wars early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.