Philo Vance: Magic Murder Case 01/04/1949

Summary

Podcast Summary: Philo Vance – Magic Murder Case (01/04/1949)

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Host: Choice Classic Radio
Episode Date: July 18, 2026
Original Air Date: January 4, 1949

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Episode Overview

This episode of Choice Classic Radio Detectives features “The Magic Murder Case” from the classic old-time radio detective series Philo Vance. Listeners are whisked back to the golden age of radio mysteries as famed detective Philo Vance investigates the murder of “The Great Mento,” a magician found dead in his locked dressing room. The crime appears impossible, with no clear way in or out—setting the scene for a clever locked-room mystery full of rivalry, romance, backstage intrigue, and classic misdirection.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tension Among Magicians

• Pop Baker’s Resentment: Former star magician turned magic craftsman Pop Baker harbors deep resentment against Mento, who exposed magicians’ secrets and ruined Baker’s career.

  • Pop Baker: “You are not a magician. You're making it impossible for magicians to work. Get out of my shop.” (00:54)
  • “You took that life away from me, Mento. Remember? And be warned, you took my life from me. Maybe someday I do the same for you.” (02:53)

• Mento's Attitude: The arrogant and unapologetic Mento continues to antagonize those around him, both professionally and personally.

2. Complex Relationships and Motives

• Romantic Triangle: Mento is noncommittal despite Betty Anderson’s pleas to marry her. Johnny Davis, a dancer in the next theatre, is in love with Betty and grows increasingly frustrated by her attachment to Mento.

  • Betty Anderson: “When are you gonna marry me, Mento?” (04:18)
  • Johnny Davis: “That guy isn't happy unless he's doing something to hurt people. … He worked on you until you fell in love with him, just so he could watch you suffer.” (06:30)

• Betty’s Determination: Betty is torn between her feelings for Mento and Johnny’s affections, setting up multiple suspects with strong motives.

3. The Impossible Crime: Locked Room Mystery

• Discovery of the Body: Vance and the District Attorney, Markham, are invited backstage by Mento, only to find him dead with a knife in his back, and the dressing room locked and bolted from the inside.

  • Philo Vance: “Somebody must have locked it from the inside. But nobody answers our knock. There's trouble in that room, Markham.” (08:55)
  • DA Markham: “Well, there's the great Mento all right, lying face down with a knife in his back. You're right about trouble, Vance.” (09:01)

• Physical Setup: Both the door and window are locked from the inside, making the crime seem impossible and baffling even for seasoned investigators.

4. Suspicions, Alibis, and the Magic of Deception

• Pop Baker’s Alibi and Mind Games: Vance visits Pop Baker, who dramatically hints at his own cleverness and even dares Vance to prove his guilt—but offers an airtight alibi with credible witnesses, including a policeman.

  • Pop Baker: “The murderer is clever. All his life he has dedicated to making devices which will fool people. This could be his masterpiece.” (12:30)
  • “From 9:30 until midnight last night … I was with friends. Reliable, reputable friends, including a policeman whom I know.” (13:15)

• Betty’s Knowledge of Magic: Questioned by DA Markham, Betty demonstrates her understanding of tricks and illusions, providing further clues to the method of murder.

  • DA Markham: “Perhaps this was the same trick in reverse.” (16:35)
  • Betty Anderson: “The locked trunk trick is done with a false panel in the trunk. Magician removes it while he's inside and gets out that way.” (16:46)

5. Recreating and Solving the Crime

• Philo Vance Recreates the Scene: Vance explores the “sawing a woman in half” trick with Pop Baker, clarifying the mechanics of magic cabinets and false tables—key to solving the locked room.

  • Pop Baker: “It doesn't look wide enough to hold a girl.” (19:04)
  • Philo Vance: “But it is. It's the same type of table I saw at Pop Baker's studio.” (21:32)

• Dramatic Demonstration: Vance hides inside a duplicate magic tabletop to prove how the killer could have remained hidden during and after the murder.

  • District Attorney Markham: “Your voice seems to be coming from that table. But you couldn't possibly be hiding in that tabletop.”
  • Philo Vance: “No, but I am, Markham. Now, I'm coming out of my hiding place.” (21:17–21:24)

6. The Culprit Revealed

• Johnny Davis Exposed: Vance and Markham rush to Johnny Davis’s apartment, arriving just in time to prevent him from harming Betty. Johnny’s involvement and motive are laid bare.

  • Betty Anderson: “I know you killed him, and I know how you killed him.” (22:34)
  • Philo Vance: “You were in that room hiding in the tabletop while we were there. After we left, you left with a practically perfect murder to your credit.” (25:02)
  • Johnny Davis (confessing): “Yeah, yeah, I killed Mento. What's more, I'd do it again if I had a chance.” (25:56)

• Method: Johnny killed Mento, locked the door, and hid in the deceptively shallow magic table, escaping unnoticed after the body was found—using classic stagecraft to perpetrate (and hide) his crime.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Pop Baker (on resentment at being exposed): “You took that life away from me, Mento. Remember? And be warned, you took my life from me. Maybe someday I do the same for you.” (02:53)
• District Attorney Markham (on murder suspect appearances): “My experience as district attorney has taught me, Ms. Anderson, that murderers rarely do look like murderers. That's what complicates my job…” (15:38)
• Philo Vance (deducing the solution): “I'm quite certain this mystery is no longer a mystery.” (19:37)
• Johnny Davis (confession): “Yeah, yeah, I killed Mento. What's more, I'd do it again if I had a chance.” (25:56)
• Philo Vance (closing): “Now I think I have a statement I want to make. This is the end of the magic murder case.” (26:08)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:40 – Pop Baker and Mento argue over exposed secrets and ruined careers.
• 04:18 – Betty confronts Mento about marrying her; Johnny professes love for Betty.
• 08:55–09:18 – Vance and Markham discover Mento’s body.
• 12:17–13:39 – Vance interviews Pop Baker, who hints at his alibi and the murderer’s cleverness.
• 16:35–16:54 – DA Markham and Betty discuss magic tricks used to create the illusion of an impossible crime.
• 19:37–21:43 – Vance reconstructs the trick with the magic table, setting up the final reveal.
• 22:24 – Betty confronts Johnny, revealing she knows how the murder was committed.
• 24:37–26:08 – Final confrontation, Johnny’s confession, and Vance’s summation.

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Conclusion

This episode exemplifies classic radio detective drama with its locked-room puzzle, a cast of suspects all bristling with motive, and a final reveal hinging on knowledge of stage magic and illusion. Philo Vance unravels the case not just with deduction, but by understanding the world of performers—a true “magic murder” solved by brains, not tricks.

Transcript

[Announcer]

Welcome to Choice Classic Radio, where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows.

[Betty Anderson]

Like us on Facebook.

[Announcer]

Subscribe to us on YouTube and thank you for [e-mail].

[Pop Baker]

It will do you no good to stay here and watch me. For you, I have no magic tricks

to build or to sell.

[Mento]

Now look, Pop, I'll pay you just as much as any magician. Maybe more.

[Pop Baker]

Oh, no.

For you, I have nothing. I build a trick or an illusion for you. And what do you do with it? Expose it on the stage. Show the public how it works. You are not a magician. You're making it impossible for magicians to work. Get out of my shop.

[Mento]

Now, Pop, all I want is one trick. Nobody can make them like you. A Pop Baker. False bottom table looks 2 inches high to an audience. Actually, it's about 6. Nobody's as good as you, Pop.

[Pop Baker]

The great Mento says nobody is as good as me. So I relent. I sell him my tricks. Oh, no.

Now, not for you, Mento. No tricks.

[Mento]

Look, Pop, you've no real gripe against me. Ok, so I expose magic. So what?

[Pop Baker]

So what you say?

Listen, 10 years ago, who was the greatest magician of them all? Who? Answer me.

[Betty Anderson]

Who?

[Mento]

You mean you. You are pretty good.

[Pop Baker]

Pretty good from coast to coast. A headliner. My own magic show. Two performances a day, my name in electric lights. Baker, the Baffler.

Now what do I have?

[Mento]

A pretty nice business making effects for magicians.

[Pop Baker]

That compares with what I had, fool. Here do I have an audience that applauds me?

No.

Here, do I have anything except my tools, my work?

[Mento]

You're not blaming me for getting you off the stage, are you?

[Pop Baker]

Yes. Yes, I blame you. I must blame you. Every trick I did on the stage, you exposed. Soon people did not want to see me anymore. They know how my tricks are done. They laugh at me. You made them laugh at me.

[Philo Vance]

No, Mento.

[Pop Baker]

From me you get nothing. Ever.

[Mento]

Sorry you feel that way, Pop, but I think you're exaggerating this a little bit, aren't you?

[Philo Vance]

Oh, no.

[Pop Baker]

No, I'm not. I think many times over the years I was on the stage. How it was everything to me, my whole life. Well, you took that life away from me, Mento. Remember? And be warned, you took my life from me. Maybe someday I do the same for you.

[Mento]

How's my makeup, Betty?

[Betty Anderson]

It's perfect, Mento, as you know. Just like everything else about you. Perfect.

[Mento]

That's hardly a reason for that tone you're using, my girl. Incidentally, your makeup wasn't too good at the matinee, too lazy or too much in a hurry. Which was it?

[Betty Anderson]

Neither. I've been with you over a year now.

[Mento]

So you have, so you have. And no magician ever had a pretty assistant. I am very pleased with you, Betty.

[Betty Anderson]

Pleased with me? That isn't the way you talked when I first joined the act.

[Mento]

If this is going to be a quarrel about the same old thing again, please let it keep until after the performance. I can't work when I'm upset.

[Betty Anderson]

I've been upset for months and I've worked. I don't see any reason for putting this off any longer.

[Mento]

All right, let's have it. What is it?

[Betty Anderson]

When are you gonna marry me, Mento?

[Pop Baker]

Is that all?

[Mento]

I thought this was going to be something important.

[Betty Anderson]

It was important when you tried to convince me you were in love with me. When you made me fall in love with you.

[Mento]

I made you fall in love with me? Come now, Betty. There's a limit to what even a magician can do. Come on. Come on, Gwat. Hand me my cape.

[Betty Anderson]

Here.

[Mento]

Folding flowers and silks are in it.

[Betty Anderson]

Yes, they're in the folds of the cape where they belong. Now listen, Mento, how about you and me? What have you decided?

[Pop Baker]

What's the terrible rush?

[Mento]

My dear, you know I'm fond of you.

[Betty Anderson]

Maybe. But Johnny Davis is in love with me. He wants to marry me.

[Mento]

Well, then marry him. I'll hide my broken heart and wish you to all the happiness in the world. Although what you can see in that.

[Pop Baker]

That.

[Mento]

That hoofer, I don't know.

[Betty Anderson]

Johnny's wonderful.

[Mento]

Well, then you should be very happy.

[Betty Anderson]

Well, I'm not. You've seen to that. And Mento, I won't forget it. But I'm not going to be unhappy alone. I'll see to it that you share some of my misery. Believe me, I will.

[Johnny Davis]

Snap out of it, baby. Things can't be that tough. Besides, a coffee cup isn't a Kristen ball. So start staring into it.

[Betty Anderson]

I'm sorry, Johnny, hadn't.

[Johnny Davis]

Meadow, as you're upset, Esme, maybe I ought to talk to him.

[Betty Anderson]

No, it won't do any good, Johnny. I tried just before we went on stage 20 minutes ago. He won't tell me anything one way or another.

[Johnny Davis]

Is he in the dressing room now?

[Betty Anderson]

I suppose so. Told me he was expecting two visitors after the performance. That might be just another stall so he don't have to take me out tonight. But he went to his dressing room. I know that.

[Johnny Davis]

Why don't you give him up, Betty? He's only making you unhappy.

[Betty Anderson]

I wish I could. Without him, there's nothing.

[Johnny Davis]

There's a precious little guy called me. I could make you happy, dear.

[Betty Anderson]

Yeah. I know one thing, Johnny. I know you'd try. It wouldn't be fair to you. There'd always be something missing. As long as Mentor were alive, I couldn't help but want him. Is that so wrong?

[Johnny Davis]

You know it is. That guy isn't happy unless he's doing something to hurt people. His fake magic act does nothing but expose tricks he worked on you until you fell in love with him. Just so he could watch you suffer.

[Betty Anderson]

In the upper part of this, Johnny, is I know all that. I know it and I can't do anything about it.

[Johnny Davis]

No. No, I guess you can't. But you said before that you'd want Mento as long as he was alive. Maybe I can do something about that.

[Pop Baker]

Good show wasn't advanced.

[Philo Vance]

Excellent, Markham, excellent. I've always had a soft spot with Bo. Nice of the fellow to have sent me these tickets, wasn't it?

[Pop Baker]

Fellow?

[District Attorney Markham]

What fellow? I was under the impression that you'd bought them.

[Mento]

No.

[Philo Vance]

Remember that magic act that opened the second half of the bill? The great Mento?

[Johnny Davis]

Of course.

[District Attorney Markham]

He was very clever. And his assistant was quite pretty.

[Philo Vance]

That door there leads backstage, I imagine. Come on, we're going to see him.

[Pop Baker]

All right.

[District Attorney Markham]

Would it be impolite to ask why?

[Pop Baker]

Hardly.

[Philo Vance]

As I was saying, he sent me these tickets and a note asking me to come backstage at the end of the performance. I'll get in the store.

[District Attorney Markham]

Backstage always had a fascination for me, Vance.

[Philo Vance]

It has for most people, Markham, including

[Pop Baker]

actors and private investigators.

[Philo Vance]

Guilty as charged. I beg your pardon, but where is the great Mentos dressing room, please?

[Betty Anderson]

Second room to the right.

[Philo Vance]

Thank you, Markham. To retain a semi consistency to our conversation, I believe I was telling you about a note that this meadow sent me along with the tickets.

[Pop Baker]

So you were it.

[Philo Vance]

It said, please see the show and come back to visit him afterward.

[Pop Baker]

It had a hint of intrigue, Vance.

[District Attorney Markham]

You could find intrigue in a loaf of bread. Don't you ever get tired of looking for it?

[Philo Vance]

No, and I hope I never will. It's true that many times the intrigue isn't there. When I think it might be. But I don't overlook anything either. Anything that might be passed by if I hadn't investigated. Well, here we are.

[District Attorney Markham]

Perhaps your friend didn't wait. Perhaps that too is part of the intrigue.

[Philo Vance]

That would be interesting, Markham. Very interesting.

[District Attorney Markham]

Well, from what I can gather, you have your choice of believing that he either didn't wait or is very deaf, Vance.

[Philo Vance]

Now don't be alarmed because I'm looking through the keyhole, Markham. Perhaps it is undignified, but under the circumstances I believe it's warranted.

[District Attorney Markham]

And what warrants it?

[Philo Vance]

The keyhole is obstructed a bit because the key is still on the inside.

[District Attorney Markham]

Which means the door is locked from the inside.

[Pop Baker]

Of course.

[Philo Vance]

That's right. Somebody must have locked it from the inside. But nobody answers our knock. There's trouble in that room, Markham.

[District Attorney Markham]

Well then, come on, man, help me break down this door. Once more ought to do it. Well, there's the great Mento all right, lying face down with a knife in his back. You're right about trouble, Vance.

[Philo Vance]

Yes, I know. Look at this door, Markham. It wasn't only locked on the inside with a key. It was bolted from the inside.

[District Attorney Markham]

I'll get Sergeant Heath on the telephone immediately.

[Philo Vance]

I think that can wait a moment, Markham.

[Johnny Davis]

Okay.

[Philo Vance]

Take the Take a look at this room. There's no other way a murderer could have gotten out except the door that was locked and bolted.

[District Attorney Markham]

That window up there, Vance, Too small

[Philo Vance]

to let anyone in or out. Besides, I think you'll find that that's locked from the inside too.

[District Attorney Markham]

I think you're right, Vance. Yes, it is locked from the inside.

[Philo Vance]

Well, this looks like a first rate mystery, Markham. The position of that knife prohibits suicide. Yet nobody could have gotten in here to kill our friend Mento. Or so it seems.

[District Attorney Markham]

I go along with that. Definitely. Take a look around the room, Vance. There's the little stand that Mento brought out those silks and that fishbowl from. There's another table over there and I guess that's all.

[Philo Vance]

No question about that, Vance.

[District Attorney Markham]

I have an idea that this is probably the most baffling case we've ever encountered.

[Philo Vance]

No question about that either, Markham. I'm quite sure this case isn't going to be quite as easy to break open as that locked door was.

[Pop Baker]

A BAKER I am Mr. Vance? That's right. You in the right place?

[Philo Vance]

I imagined I was when I saw those magic cabinets. You build them?

[Pop Baker]

Yes, that I do. They are illusion cabinets.

[Philo Vance]

I'd like to see the inside of one. May I?

[Pop Baker]

If you like. Open the one in front of you. Go ahead. Go ahead, open it. What do you see?

[Philo Vance]

Well, to be honest about it, I don't see anything. Just the inside of a man high cabinet, black, satin lined.

[Pop Baker]

How deep would you say it was?

[Mento]

I don't know.

[Philo Vance]

Five, six inches. It seemed Much deeper from the outside before I opened the door.

[Pop Baker]

Well, it's 24 inches deep. Holds two girls, see? One of them can easily fit in back of this rear satin. Allows the magician to change his assistance just like.

[Johnny Davis]

Like.

[Philo Vance]

Like magic. You're quite a craftsman, Mr. Baker.

[Pop Baker]

Thank you. Yes, now it's my life work. Well, what is it you wanted, Mr. Vance? To purchase one of my illusions?

[Philo Vance]

Not exactly. I'm here investigating the death of the great Mento. He was murdered in his dressing room last night with the door locked and bolted from the inside.

[Pop Baker]

Oh, you are a policeman.

[Philo Vance]

Not quite, Vance.

[Pop Baker]

Oh, of course, Vance. You are Philo. Vance should have known. I am honored, Mr. Vance. But what do you want with me, Mr. Baker?

[Philo Vance]

I talked to Betty Anderson, Mento's assistant, immediately after the murder. She told me several things. Among them one fact that brought me here.

[Pop Baker]

She told you I quarreled with Mento?

[Philo Vance]

That's right. Apparently, Mento told her when he returned from this workshop of yours.

[Pop Baker]

He was not a good man, this Mento. You knew that?

[Philo Vance]

That isn't what interests me, Mr. Baker. He is now a dead man. I want to know who killed him.

[Pop Baker]

So? Newspapers say he was killed in a locked room with a knife at his back. That police are checking the knife for

[Philo Vance]

fingerprints, which they won't find anyone clever enough to have figured out this murder wouldn't be simple enough to leave his calling card.

[Pop Baker]

Thank you.

[Philo Vance]

Why thank me, Mr. Baker? I merely stated a fact.

[Pop Baker]

You were very complimentary. You said the murderer was clever. For that I thank you.

[Philo Vance]

You're telling me that you killed Mento, Mr. Baker? Oh, not exactly.

[Pop Baker]

I'm not that stupid. This I will tell you, Mr. Philofantz, you are perfectly right about two things. There will be no fingerprints and the murderer is clever. All his life he has dedicated to making devices which will fool people. This could be his masterpiece.

[Philo Vance]

I'm not sure.

[Mento]

No.

[Pop Baker]

So it's a contest then? A contest between your knowledge and the murderers. That's fair, Mr. Francis. I will tell you if I kill him. And if you find out how I did it, I will admit it. But this I tell you too. The papers say Mantu died at 10:15 last night. Their death was instantaneous.

[Philo Vance]

The papers were correct. Man couldn't live two minutes with that knife in so vulnerable a spot.

[Pop Baker]

I do not wish to complicate your work too much, Mr. Vance, but from 9:30 until midnight last night, during which time Mentor was murdered, I was with friends. Reliable, reputable friends, including a policeman whom I know.

[Philo Vance]

And you didn't leave them even for a moment.

[Pop Baker]

Not for a second. You see, Mr. Vance, execution of a crime is like building a magic cabinet. The effect is only perfect if the plans are perfect.

[Philo Vance]

But of course, it's very possible that you didn't kill Mento.

[Pop Baker]

I suppose so. But Mr. Vance, I urge you, please do not believe that. I urge you not to believe anyone else murdered the great Mento.

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[District Attorney Markham]

This is District Attorney Markham. The magic murder case began when the great Mento theatrical magician was found in his locked dressing room, a knife planted firmly in his back. Nobody could have gotten into or out of the dressing room. Yet. Mento couldn't possibly have been a suicide. Vance and I have questioned Betty Anderson, Mento's assistant, and have found that Mento had quarreled with Pop Baker, a craftsman catering to magicians. Vance has gone to see him while I have decided to continue questioning Ms. Anderson.

[Johnny Davis]

It seems

[Betty Anderson]

I didn't kill him, Mr. Markham. I wanted to lots of times, but I didn't. Look at me. Do I look like a killer?

[District Attorney Markham]

My experience as district attorney has taught me, Ms. Anderson, that murderers rarely do look like murderers. That's what complicates my job and Sergeant Heath's and Philo Vance's. You've told me that Mento promised to marry you.

[Betty Anderson]

Yeah, sure he did. In the beginning. And later on he wouldn't be definite. He wouldn't say when. He wouldn't even say he wouldn't marry me. He was that kind of a man, Mr. Markham.

[District Attorney Markham]

You're trying to tell me that even though he might not want something, he didn't want anyone else to get it either.

[Betty Anderson]

Only he'd said we were through. But he wouldn't marry me. Maybe then I could have been happy with Johnny.

[District Attorney Markham]

Johnny?

[Betty Anderson]

I didn't mean to say that, Mr. Markham. I don't want Johnny brought into this case. He had nothing to do with Mentos death.

[District Attorney Markham]

I think I might be A better judge of that than you, Ms. Henderson. Who is Johnny?

[Betty Anderson]

He's a dancer. He works in the theater next door.

[District Attorney Markham]

Oh, I must remember to tell Vance that. Ms. Anderson, there is an element in this case we've never before encountered. The element of the locked door. It makes a puzzling case baffling because

[Betty Anderson]

the door was locked and bolted on the inside.

[District Attorney Markham]

The door and the window both. Now, I can remember watching a magician get out of a trunk that was locked from the outside. Perhaps this was the same trick in reverse.

[Betty Anderson]

I doubt that. The locked trunk trick is done with a false panel in the trunk. Magician removes it while he's inside and gets out that way.

[District Attorney Markham]

You know all the tricks, Ms. Anderson?

[Betty Anderson]

Most of them. I watch Mento expose him for over a year.

[District Attorney Markham]

In that case, perhaps you can give me. Oh, hello, vance.

[Philo Vance]

Hello, Markham. Ms. Anderson.

[District Attorney Markham]

Any luck in your talk with Pop Baker?

[Philo Vance]

Vance, I'm not sure. I got what practically amounted to a confession from him.

[Betty Anderson]

Pop Baker confessed?

[District Attorney Markham]

I'm afraid I don't understand, Vance. What could it possibly be that practically amounts to a confession?

[Philo Vance]

Well, he dared me to prove he did it, for one thing. He has an ironclad alibi for the time of the murder. I know it's ironclad. I just checked it.

[District Attorney Markham]

And perhaps he didn't do it. After all. Somebody stabbed mento at 10:15. And if pop Baker couldn't have done it, it must be somebody else who was our murderer.

[Philo Vance]

That's completely logical, Markham. Unless Mento the magician was killed by magic.

[Pop Baker]

You want me to build some special effects for you, Miss Anderson?

[Betty Anderson]

Yeah, please, Mr. Baker. I'll pay you for them. I want to do a magic act,

[Pop Baker]

like the great Mentos.

[Betty Anderson]

No, no, I won't expose magic, Mr. Baker. You see, I was with Mento long enough to know how all his tricks worked. I can do them, too, but I'll need something big. Some big illusion for a finish. You can build it for me?

[Pop Baker]

Undoubtedly I can build it for you, but will I? No, no, I think not.

[Betty Anderson]

You've got to.

[Pop Baker]

Oh, so it's a threat now?

I've got to.

Miss Anderson, perhaps you'd better.

[Philo Vance]

Hello there, Mr. Vance.

[Pop Baker]

Why do you come here again?

[Philo Vance]

You expected me to come, didn't you, Mr. Baker? What I didn't expect was to find Miss Anderson here.

[Betty Anderson]

I want him to build an effect for me. Vance, I'm gonna do a magic act by myself.

[Philo Vance]

Now, really? That's quite interesting, Mr. Baker. I came back because I want to know a little more about magic. I promise you that. Unless the information affects this case. I'll reveal it to no one.

[Pop Baker]

What is it you wish to know?

[Philo Vance]

Well, let's take the sawing a woman in half trick. How did that work?

[Pop Baker]

It does no harm to tell you. It has been exposed in theaters for years. Two girls are used. One the public sees when she climbs into the box that is to be sawed.

[Philo Vance]

And the other?

[Pop Baker]

The other is lying on the table the cabinet rests on. It doesn't look wide enough to hold a girl.

[Philo Vance]

But it is illusion, eh?

[Pop Baker]

Yes. After one girl climbs into the box, she tucks up her feet in the top half. The girl in the table puts her feet through the bottom half and the magician then saws in between them.

[Philo Vance]

Very simple once it's explained, isn't it?

[Pop Baker]

You saw Mentor's act. You also saw a variation of the trick he used. A table similar to the one in the sawing a woman illusion.

[Philo Vance]

So he did. He took several large dogs out of the tabletop. Thank you very much, both of you.

[Betty Anderson]

You're leaving, Mr. Vance?

[Philo Vance]

Definitely. I'm quite certain this mystery is no longer a mystery. I'll be seeing both of you again very soon. Good night.

[Pop Baker]

Good night, Mr. Vance. Now, Miss Anderson, we will talk about what you want me to build for you.

[Betty Anderson]

No, no, Mr. Baker, not right now. I didn't like the look on Vance's face when he left.

[Pop Baker]

To me, it seemed a very satisfied look.

[Betty Anderson]

That's just it. I think he knows something. I think he knows everything. And I gotta get out of here fast.

[District Attorney Markham]

Here I am, Vance, just as you asked. Why did you want me to meet you here outside Mento's dressing room?

[Philo Vance]

Why, Martin? Because I just left Pop Baker and Betty Anderson. And you are about to witness a dramatization entitled how the Locked Door Murder Was Accomplished. I see there's a new door fitted on Mento's dressing room.

[District Attorney Markham]

Yes, a new door. A new lock and bolt. That was done earlier today. Vance, why the dramatics?

[Philo Vance]

We're nearing the finish of our case. Markham. I'm going in the dressing room. Give me one moment, then break down the door.

[District Attorney Markham]

Break down the door? What for?

[Pop Baker]

Where will you be?

[Philo Vance]

I'll be showing you how Mento was murdered. Five seconds, Markham, then break it down.

[Johnny Davis]

Okay.

[District Attorney Markham]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I hope you're ready, Vance. Well, Vance, we.

[Pop Baker]

Hey, where is he?

[District Attorney Markham]

Vance, where are you? Vance, what is this? You can't be hiding. There's no place to hide, Vance. What is this? Where are you?

[Philo Vance]

Right here, Markham.

[District Attorney Markham]

Right where? Your voice seems to be coming from that table. But you couldn't possibly be hiding in that tabletop.

[Philo Vance]

No, but I am, Markham. Now, I'm coming out of my hiding place.

[District Attorney Markham]

Vance, that tabletop doesn't look deep enough.

[Philo Vance]

Doesn't, does it? But it is. It's the same type of table I saw at Pop Baker's studio. Ready to make an arrest, Markham?

[District Attorney Markham]

Of course. But I'm just as ready to hear how this solves Mento's murder.

[Philo Vance]

I'll explain later. First I've got to make a call, and then we've got to pay. A call on a murderer.

[Betty Anderson]

Johnny. Johnny.

[Johnny Davis]

Well, well, this is a surprise. Hello, Betty. What are you doing here at my place?

[Betty Anderson]

Johnny, get some clothes packed and get out of here fast.

[Johnny Davis]

What?

[Betty Anderson]

Don't stop to argue with me.

[Pop Baker]

Get.

[Betty Anderson]

Get some clothes together. I'll tell you all about this while you're doing it.

[Johnny Davis]

Well, honey, don't be so mysterious. What's this all about?

[Betty Anderson]

Okay. You want it your way, Johnny? Philo, Vance knows you killed Mento.

[Johnny Davis]

Vance knows it. Well, that's interesting. I didn't know it myself. Brilliant guy, that Vance.

[Betty Anderson]

Don't try to fool me, Johnny. I know you killed him, and I know how you killed him.

[Johnny Davis]

Really?

[Betty Anderson]

That's right. Now, come on. Let's stop this. Get packed, Johnny.

[Johnny Davis]

No, no, not yet. Why are you warning me about Vance, Betty?

[Betty Anderson]

Why shouldn't I warn you? You were in love with me, weren't you? Tried to make things easier for me. Okay, I'm paying off that favor now. Johnny, I'm telling you to get out before Vance gets here.

[Johnny Davis]

Well, what makes you so sure he's coming?

[Betty Anderson]

Because he left me at Pop Baker's a little while ago. I'm sure he figured out the false table gimmick. And he'll know it was you who hid in that false tabletop. He'll know you were in that table in Mentos dressing room while he and Markham were discovering Mentos body.

[Johnny Davis]

False tabletop. What's that?

[Betty Anderson]

Oh, Johnny, please don't try to lie to me. I showed you that phony table, showed you how it works weeks ago. Please, Johnny. Vance.

[Johnny Davis]

Never mind about Vance right now. Come here, Betty, darling. Come here. Uh, Come on, baby. Come over here. All right, I'll come over to you.

[Betty Anderson]

You keep away from me.

[Johnny Davis]

No, no, darling. I'm coming closer. Close enough, darling, to put my hands right on your throat. Few seconds more, darling. Just a few.

[Philo Vance]

He'll put a stop to that. Come on, Markham.

[District Attorney Markham]

I'm with you.

[Johnny Davis]

Neither of you is coming very much closer.

[District Attorney Markham]

No, he's got A gun.

[Betty Anderson]

Come on, come on. I'm holding his arm.

[Johnny Davis]

Let go of me, you dope.

[Mento]

It go.

[District Attorney Markham]

This'll take care of you, Johnny.

[Philo Vance]

Well, Ms. Anderson, apparently we got here at the right time. We catch her, Markham.

[Betty Anderson]

Oh, it's all right. I'm all right now.

[District Attorney Markham]

Good. Well, Vance, what happens now?

[Philo Vance]

We'll revive Johnny Davis and show him just how certain we are that he killed the great Mento.

[Pop Baker]

We won't show him, Vance.

[District Attorney Markham]

You will. All I know is you called Pop Baker and found out Ms. Anderson was on the way here. I'm going to learn about the details of this solution at the same time that Johnny is.

[Philo Vance]

Johnny, we know you were in love with Betty Anderson. But she wouldn't marry you as long as Mento was alive.

[Johnny Davis]

So what about Advance?

[Philo Vance]

So you killed him.

[Johnny Davis]

So you say.

[Pop Baker]

So he'll prove too.

[District Attorney Markham]

Johnny, if past performances are any criterion.

[Johnny Davis]

They aren't to me. You can't prove a thing. Sure, sure, I may have been a little rough with Betty when you walked in my apartment a while ago. But you can't hang for that, Johnny.

[Philo Vance]

I'll admit that locked door on Mentos dressing room had me stopped temporarily, but it doesn't anymore. You were in that room hiding in the tabletop while we were there. After we left, you left with a practically perfect murder to your credit.

[Johnny Davis]

Pop Baker could have killed Beto.

[Philo Vance]

That's what you wanted us to think when you hidden the table. You knew that eventually we'd figure out that this was a magician's way of killing a magician and that we'd go straight to Baker. Fortunately, he had an alibi. But he couldn't resist trying to take a little credit for the murder. That was the showman in him.

[District Attorney Markham]

Johnny, we have Betty Anderson ready to say you admitted killing Mento. Also that you tried to kill her. And also that she explained the false tabletop to you. We don't need your confession to get a conviction, believe me.

[Johnny Davis]

No. Okay. If you don't need it, you get it anyway. Yeah, yeah, I killed Meadow. What's more, I'd do it again if I had a chance.

[Philo Vance]

Well, Markham, that's the statement we wanted him to make. Now I think I have a statement I want to make. This is the end of the magic murder case.