The Lodger (Mystery in the Air Radio Dramatization)

This episode of Mystery in the Air is based on the novel The Lodger, first published in 1912, and written by Marie Belloc Lowndes, who took her inspiration for the story from the Jack the Ripper murders.

The story is set in London, where a Jack the Ripper-type killer known as The Avenger is killing young girls. In the early moments of the show Ellen Bunting (played by Agnes Moorehead) and her husband, Robert, are discussing The Avenger when there is a knock on the door. The Buntings hope that it will be someone looking for a room to rent and they are in luck because the man at the door, dressed in a black cape and hat, is called Mr Sleuth (Peter Lorre) and he does indeed need a room.

Sleuth is willing to pay a lot of money for the room but he’s a strange character who seems to be overprotective about his luggage, is constantly quoting from the Bible and considers music to be an instrument of the Devil; so Mrs Bunting has to be wary of singing in his presence.

Sleuth is a strange one and no mistake and it is not long before Mrs Bunting begins to suspect that her strange lodger is The Avenger. She also has the added worry that her young daughter, Daisy, has returned home to live and Daisy is a pretty young blond girl, who likes dancing; she is, in fact, just like all of The Avenger’s victims.

Mystery in the Air: The Lodger

(Listen to the Full Episode)