Does someone still carry the secret of that dark September night in 1944 when the body of taxi-driver Harrison “Harry” Graham was found on the back seat of his cab in lonely Rooley Lane, Bradford?

The discovery, at 5.30 a.m. on Thursday, September 7th, was made by Police Constable Leonard Fell, who also discovered that there was no money in Harry’s wallet and that all his ID papers were missing. Early-morning transport workers hadn’t seen anyone suspicious, so it was thought that the killer made his escape across fields and along side roads.

Harry’s death was caused by a blow to the back of the head with a blunt instrument, possibly a tyre lever or large spanner. He had a wound several inches wide, and there were bloodstains on the rear seat and carpet.

An airman had booked Harry’s taxi at about midnight. The airman said when he was in the taxi a man signalled it to stop in Canal Road by flashing a torch. Harry got out of the cab and spoke to the man. The man with the torch was never traced and what was said was never established. According to the airman, Harry indicated that he knew the man, and that he lived in Bradford.

A later fare asked to be taken to Bierley Church, near where the body was found, at about 1.10 a.m. This man was found and eliminated from the inquiry.

A month earlier another taxi driver’s passenger had shown a particular interest in the amount of money carried by taxi drivers, and where it was kept. This inquisitive passenger was never traced.

If Harry Graham’s murderer is still alive he is by now an old man. Where is he now? Where is the man with the torch? And where is the inquisitive passenger?