Episode Details

This radio drama uses AI-generated writing, voices, music, sound effects and artwork. All spoken performances in this edition use ElevenLabs V4.

Did the widow of Loudun really poison thirteen of her own?

Read the story and the full transcript: https://matezz.com/episodes/the-case-of-the-thirteen-jars-sherlock-holmes-the-new-cases/

Poitiers, 1952. A clerk of the court slips across the Channel on the night boat to beg Sherlock Holmes for help: a widow from Loudun is on trial for her life, accused of poisoning thirteen of her own family, and the town has already condemned her. Thirteen graves have been opened, thirteen jars sealed for the chemist in Marseille — and the clerk cannot believe the case his own court is building.

From the series Sherlock Holmes — The New Cases: a real 1950s crime reimagined as a classic Sherlock Holmes radio mystery, performed by a full multi-voice AI cast with an original score and sound design.

Inspired by a real French poisoning trial of the early 1950s. All names, characters, dialogue and events are fictionalized; the words, actions and motives of every character — including the accused, the witnesses, the investigators and the court — are invented for drama. This is a work of fiction, not a factual account of any real person or institution.

Setting: London, Loudun and Poitiers, France — April 1952.

Directed Edition: the same story, newly performed line by line with a directing pass for every voice: each actor's delivery is chosen for the moment, from a dry aside to a held breath.

Writer v2.7 — the studio's newest writing process: the plot is planned and checked by an AI story editor, then each act is drafted with the whole story in view and edited before a word is voiced.

Chapters:
0:00 Friar's Balsam at Baker Street
2:47 The Cemetery Keeper of Loudun
4:38 The Widow's Cell at Poitiers
6:06 Thirteen Jars Under Seal
7:40 The Passage Behind the Dock
8:50 Inspector Coste's File
10:26 A Pawn Ticket at the Courtroom Doors
11:46 The Widow Keeps Her Silence
13:21 The Witnesses' Room
14:56 Coffee Across the Square
16:10 The Chemist from Marseille
17:44 Back Among the Brown Parcels
19:21 Lamplight in Coste's Office
21:11 A Third Visit to the Cell
22:55 Holmes Alone in the Dark Courtroom
23:55 Before the Morning Session
25:47 Coffee in Coste's Office

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