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(EP1) The Black Museum: “The 22 Caliber Pistol"

March 18, 2026·24 min·2 clips

Orson Welles describes a beautiful, deadly .22 caliber pistol now displayed in Scotland Yard's Black Museum.

The episode opens with Orson Welles introducing Scotland Yard's Black Museum, a real repository of objects used in crimes, housed in the famous stone building on the Thames. He holds up a small .22 caliber pistol with blue steel and mother-of-pearl grips, calling it a lady's weapon. The drama centers on Vivian Davis, an affluent London socialite who hosts a cocktail party in her West End apartment. Her lover Donald Martin flirts openly with another woman at the party, triggering visible jealousy in Vivian. Guests notice the tension; one female guest remarks that if Vivian has another martini she'll kill Donald with a look. When guests leave, a violent argument breaks out, and a shot is fired. Inspector Summers and Detective Pepper arrive from Scotland Yard to find Donald's body on the apartment landing. Summers questions Vivian, who is hysterical and claims Donald tried to wrestle the gun from under her pillow and it discharged accidentally. She mentions her mother, Lady Munsey, by way of implied social protection. Summers takes her to the Yard for formal questioning, where she maintains her account. Forensic analysis then contradicts her story: the distance between the gun and the wound rules out a close struggle; Donald's fingers show no blackening from grabbing a fired barrel; and undamaged linoleum on the bedroom floor shows no scuff marks from a struggle by a leather-soled man. A neighbor, Mrs. Merritt, tells police that two weeks before the killing, Vivian leaned from her window half-dressed and shouted at Donald — and fired a shot. On the night of the murder, she heard Vivian shout 'I will kill you.' Vivian is arrested and charged with willful murder. The trial draws a society crowd. The pathologist and Inspector Summers testify for the prosecution. Defense counsel notes that only Summers's own fingerprints were found on the pistol — no evidence of Donald having touched it. Mrs. Merritt on the stand admits she did not actually see Vivian fire during the first incident. Vivian testifies that she fired into the room, not at Donald, during the earlier quarrel — to frighten him into returning. She denies ever pointing the weapon at him. Under cross-examination, the prosecutor confronts the discrepancy between 'I will kill you' and Vivian's claim she only threatened to kill herself. Vivian denies the neighbor's version, growing increasingly distressed. The jury deliberates two hours and returns a not-guilty verdict on both murder and manslaughter. Welles closes with a reflection on moral guilt — no one truly escapes murder, he argues, and Vivian's real crime was jealousy born of fear and insecurity.

As heard by us

A polished murder mystery where one small pistol carries the room's dread.

A .22 caliber pistol sits at the center of a murder case that looks simple at first, then starts to shift as the evidence comes in. The best part is the old radio craft: Orson Welles speaks with sober authority, the investigators move in clipped steps, and ordinary objects pick…

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Why you'd press play

Press play for a taut murder mystery wrapped in vintage radio menace.

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