← Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Philo Vance: The Case of the Cellini Cup 04/29/1943
00:29:52
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:01]
A
Most people would rather assemble a 300 piece cabinet than search for insurance. That's why the zebra searches for you. Comparing over 100 insurance companies to find savings no one else can compare today@the zebra.com welcome to Choice Classic Radio where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube and thank you for donating@ChoiceClassicRadio.com. The makers of Raleigh cigarettes present John Emery, star of the Broadway success Angel street, as final vents in SS Van Dyne's murder mystery. The Case of the Cellini Cup. Good evening, I am Philo Vance. Occupation, criminologist. And tonight I'd like to tell you the adventure of the Cellini cup as I pieced this fantastic and incredible story together later. It started something like this. In the East 70s of New York City, deep in the gloomy Shadow of the 3rd Avenue L is a dingy little secondhand store called the Old World Curio shop. It's about 10:30 at night. The front of the store is filled with the usual miscellaneous rubbish, but in the back there's a rather a good workshop. There's a light on there. The man is hunched over a workbench repairing the enamel on of all things, a cloisonne elephant. This man is Paul Gettman, about 43, rather heavyset, oily complexion, little pig eyes, smug and self satisfied, but a clever worker, an unpleasant man. But then he hasn't long to live. Although he doesn't know that. There's a discreet knock on the door at the front of the shop. Oh, he gets up and walks through the store to the door. Oh, it's you. What do you want? Well. Hey, hey, put that gun down. Someone's liable to get hurt. Wait a minute. Take it easy. What are you going to do? No, no, you don't dare. You can't get away with it. That's murder. For God's sakes, don't do it. Well, why don't you say something? What are you waiting for? I know, I know what you're waiting for. You're waiting for the elevated train. You're waiting for the elevator train to drown out the shot. Well, I got burglar monster and I'm going to. Philo Vance will be back in a moment. But first, you know when a friend of yours gets a new house, you naturally want to go and see it. Well, an old, tried and true friend of yours, Raleigh Cigarettes, is living in a brand new house and you really ought to see it because Raleigh's new house Protects you by protecting Raleigh's. How? This new house is an exclusive new package which gives up to 400% more protection than the package on other leading brands. This means that Raleigh cigarettes come to you factory fresh. Never harsh and bitter, always rich in flavor and fresh smokers. You'll thank me for this if you follow my suggestion. Make your next pack Raleigh America's freshest cigarettes. And now here is Final Events to tell you the story of the Cellini cup. Thank you, Mr. Shirley. Well, to explain how I got involved in this, John FX Markham, the District Attorney is an old friend of mine. And bright and early the morning after Getman was murdered, much too bright and much too early, Markham came over to my apartment and dragged me over to the Old World Curio shop to view the mortal remains of Paul Getson. Sergeant Heath of the homicide squad met us at door, a businesslike frown on his broad, pugnacious features, and gestured toward the body. Well, here he is, shot through the heart. Doc Baker examined the body and pulled a.32 slug out of him. I would have bet my shirt it was a.45. Made a big hole going in. So it did, Sergeant. No signs of a struggle. Who found the body, Sergeant? The patrolman on the beat. The burglar alarm went off and he came running. Looks like Getman set it off himself. There's a button right here on the counter. And we found Getman's thumbprint on it. Look at this, Markham. What's that, Vance? This utterly atrocious tie Getman was wearing. Imagine the embarrassment of being caught dead wearing a purple horror like this. I thought it was kind of snappy. Sergeant, you distress me. I've never seen you out of your uniform, but I wager you're a panic. Now, Vance, let's not get into a discussion of what the well dressed corpse should wear. Calm yourself, Markham. Ah, what have we here? A little circular bit of charred cloth. Must be a clue, eh, Sergeant? I already seen it. I figured whoever came in here to bump Getman off hid the gun under something, maybe a handkerchief. And when he fired, this piece of cloth was blown off. Figured that out myself. Not bad, huh, Sergeant? You've been going to night school. Suppose you tell us what you found out about the late Mr. Getman. Okay, he was in his early 40s. He owned the shop. He did repair work on fancy art objects for the museum and art dealers. And he was pretty good at it, I guess. He had a little apartment at the Windsor Arms and that's about all. Looks like a customer at the door that's his second today. Markham. Isn't that George Henry Howard? Yes, it is. The art collector? Yes, but there's more of the collector than the artist in him. Before the war, he traveled over Europe sweeping up statues, porcelains, tapestries and so on, like a vacuum cleaner. Between George Henry Howard and William Randolph first, the museums on the continent were left looking a trifle seedy. Let him in, Sergeant. Okay. Well, well. Mr. Vance, isn't it? How are you, Mr. Howard? Fine, fine. Never better, thanks. Mr. Markham, our district attorney and champion of justice. Oh, how do you do, Mr. Markham? And Sergeant Heath. How are you? How do you do? Is Mr. Ketman here? Yes, but he's not speaking to anyone. He was murdered last night, Mr. Howard. Murdered? Really? Oh, definitely. That's too bad. From my standpoint as well as his, I wanted to buy a group of items in here. Will his death interfere with selling them? Well, that would depend on whether there were any heirs and so on. Oh, yes, of course. Well, there seems to be a few pieces of some value in this case. Let's see, there's the triptych, Cloisonnet Vars, a copy of the Cellini cup. This beautiful German horizontal clock with hunting scenes and relief, circa 1600, I'd say. And quite right you are, Mr. Vance. By the way, Mr. Markham, I'd like to put a deposit of, say, 4000 on the contents of this case. Just to ensure my getting it I top any bid by 250. Could I do that? Well, we'll have to take that up after the investigation is concluded. All right, fine, Mr. Markham. Thank you very much. If I can be of any help. Thank you, but. All right. Goodbye. Goodbye, Mr. Vance. Goodbye, Mr. Vance. Bye. 4,000 bucks for that stuff. I could do better at the five and dime. Worth about 2,000. Oh, sergeant, you mentioned another customer. Oh, yeah, before you got here. A man by the name of Hans Hendricks, an art dealer. He told me. Oh, yes, the Hans hendricks Galleries on 57th Street. Anyway, he came to pick up an odd object Getman was repairing for him. He had a receipt for it, so I let him in to make sure it was here, but I didn't let him take it. I'll answer. Maybe my office. Well, what do you think of this, Sergeant? Oh, I got a theory. When there ain't no clues, I always say what the French say. Church a femme. Church a femme. Church a femme. Yeah. In French it means look for the dame. Oh, thank you for the translation, sire. That's okay. That was the office. Vance Wacker tells Me? They got the license number of a car that was seen here last night. Well, now we've got something concrete to work on. I have nothing very exciting to do this afternoon. Suppose I take this gentleman and scholar, the incredible Sergeant Heath, and the two of us will trace that license number to its layer. It's like I tell you, Mr. Vance. You don't have to be no genius to solve murders. All you do is ask the right people the right questions, providing one can find the right people. Well, we sure got a lot of information so far. The owner of the car rented it to a guy named Tony Carpini who lives in Queens. Yes, and this Carpini had a date last night with a girl named Norma Allen who lives in Flushing Church. She'll be in Mr. Markham's office tomorrow morning. I'll pick up Carpini and we'll, well, we'll ask questions and solve the murder. You make it sound delightfully simple. Yeah, it's a cinch. I guess I know how to figure these things out. Instinctively, Sergeant, You've been most instructive. Oh, that's okay. Well, now, let's get on to the Hans Hendricks Galleries. I'd like a few words with Mr. Hendricks. Please sit down, Mr. Vance and Sergeant Heat. Thanks. Now then, I'm at your service. Well, Mr. Hendricks, I'm looking for one of your messengers in connection with the Getman murder. A guy called Tony Carpini. Ah, so. Unfortunately he is no longer in my employ. You mean you fired him? Yes, this morning. So you are looking for Tony, eh? I'm glad I got rid of him. If I'm not too inquisitive, Mr. Hendricks, why did you dismiss him? I did not trust the man. And of course you had excellent reasons for not trusting him. He had quite a temper just lately. He was very surly. Not a man to trust with a gun. A gun? Did he carry a gun? My messengers often deliver valuable pieces. I believe I saw in the papers that the bullet was a.32. Yeah, that's right. You may be interested to know that Tony's gun was a.32. I, I, I have it here in my desk. Well, well, right in your desk. Now that's convenient, Mr. Hendricks. He turned it in when I discharged him. Ah, there you are, Sergeant. Thanks. I'll just take this along. Where did Tony keep the gun after work, I mean? In his locker with his uniform. I presume he had a key to the delivery entrance and he could get in at night if he wanted to. Easily. Uh huh. Well, thanks, Mr. Hendricks. Oh, say, before I Go. My wife wants an extra chair for the living room. And I noticed that one by the door as we came in. The sergeant sat in it, bounced in it, slumped in it, and finally decided he and the chair were soul mates. It's that carved chair with a needlepoint upholstery, of course. Of course I know the chair. How much are you asking for? It is priced at $575, I believe. Holy cow. I can get the same thing at Ludwig Bauman's for 31.75. Well, thanks again. Not at all. Goodbye, gentlemen. Goodbye. All right, now we're really getting somewhere. And without none of that fancy psychology of yours either. Mr. Vance. That guy Hendrix was pretty helpful, wasn't he, though? Almost too helpful. Well, what's the news this morning? Markham, you look like the cat that swallowed the canary and went proudly around hiccuping feathers. Well, Vance, Sergeant Heath's out tracking down our man now. I told him to bring him in as soon as he located him. And who is the man? I never thought I'd hear Philo Vance ask that question. You usually know who the man is. So nice of you to say so, old fellow. You know, Vance, a gun scratches its individual signature on bullets that leave the barrel. So we compared the bullet that killed Getman with a bullet fired from the gun that messenger Tony. Oh, yeah, yeah, here it is. Tony Carpini. The bullets match perfectly. Looks like he did it. My dear Markham, it only proves that a bullet fired from his gun brought about Getman's untimely demise. Vance, you're splitting hair. Splitting hairs is a hobby of mine, Markham, old boy. A hobby that I thought I shared with all members of the legal profession. Send Ms. Allen in. Yes, sir. Ah, that would be our femme fatale, the Cleopatra of Flushing. From Swanka's voice, I'd say she left him goggle eyed. Ah, come in and sit down, Ms. Allen. Yes, thanks. I'm Mr. Markham and this is Mr. Vance, a sort of special assistant of mine. A pleasure, Ms. Allen. Likewise. We'd like to have you tell us what happened the night of the murder. Well, I had a date with Tony and we drove around a little and then we parked and he started talking about me going out with Mr. Getman. He got sore and I told him that we would have to consider our acquaintanceship at an end because I had become engaged to Mr. Getman. You have only been engaged eight days. I didn't even get a ring. And what was Tony's reaction to the news of your engagement? He was wild. He was Mad. He threatened to kill me in Paul. That's Mr. Getman. So I asked him to be so kind as to take me home. Yes? What time was it he brought you home? About quarter to eight. Oh, he did it all right, Mr. Markham. Well, thank you very much, Ms. Allen. Now just a moment, Markham. Ms. Allen, how long have you been dating Mr. Ginley? Oh, about four months, I guess. I met him when Tony had to deliver something to his shop to be repaired after hours, and he took me along. Paul fell in love with me at first sight. I'm considered very attractive by men, obviously. And you liked Mr. Getman very much, I presume. Oh, indeed, Indeed. Yes, I've always wished to travel. And he was going to take me to South America after the duration of the duration. Paul knew lots of important people, too, if you know what I mean. I'm afraid I don't. Well, like Mr. Howard, the art collector. Paul took me to one of Mr. Howard's cocktail parties. See? It was swell. Nobody was there who wasn't somebody. Vance, don't you just be patient a moment, Markham. I even talked with Mr. Howard himself in person. Oh, he was swell. And he showed me some of his collections. You know, etchings and things. When I told him Tony worked for Mr. Hendrickson. I knew all about art from what Tony had told me. I see. And you and Mr. Howard got along very well together? Oh, sure. I told him all about Tony and I and Paul, and he laughed and laughed. I was a big hit at that party. Gee, I guess I'll never get to travel after what Tony done. Oh, I imagine another man will come along and be blinded by your charms, Ms. Allen. Yeah, I suppose so. But maybe he won't be no gentleman like Mr. Getton. Hey, will you stop showing me around? Here's Carpini, Mr. Markham. He was out on the town last night, but I grabbed him when he came back to his room, had his bags packed and was all ready to skip town. Tony, what did you do it for? What did you do it for? You spoiled everything. I didn't kill him. You did, too. You said you were going. Shut up, will you? I hate you. I'll never give you another day. Will you shut up? I tell you, I didn't kill him. I didn't have nothing to do with it. You did too. You're a murderer. That's what you are. A murderer. Oh, he hit me. Cut it out, Carini. Let's go with me. It's her own fault. She started us. Take him away, Sergeant. Okay, Mr. Markham. I guess he's a man all right. What they tell you, Mr. Vance? Church E Fem. Church AFM come on to here. Use my handkerchief, Ms. Allen. Oh, gee, thanks. You're awfully nice to me. Ah, not I, Mr. Helen. Some other gentleman. Well, Vance, are you convinced now? Not entirely, Markham. So I think I'll trot along and see if I can comb a little information from George Henry Howard. Are you going now? Yes, Ms. Allen. But before I depart, I think you may be interested to know that Mr. Markham is a bachelor and a very eligible gentleman. Confidentially, he's fascinated by you. No kidding? Why, Mr. Markham. Vance, what's the idea? Bye bye, Markham. Ah, sit down, sit down, Mr. Vance. Thank you, Mr. Howard. A very pleasant den you have here. Yes, I like it. I see the cases along the walls are filled with the ripe fruit of your continental travels. Some beautiful things. You like them, eh? Well, when I saw something I wanted, I got it. Of course, these cases represent only a fraction of my entire collection. Now these two curved swords are nice. Kris's they're called. I picked them up in the Malay states 10 years ago. Sharp as raisins. And an exquisite pair of old dueling pistols. I suppose they are dueling pistols, aren't they? Oh, yes, yes, I got them in France. Beautiful inlaid gold work on them. And you'll notice they're identical in weight, shape, trigger pull. Everything. Had to be, you know, to make the duel fair. Amazing. And I suppose these little cloth patches are for cleaning the guns. That's right. That's quite right. Well, what have we here in this case? It looks like a copy of that Cellini cup in the Metropolitan Museum. Yes, it's a good copy too. Yes, it is. You have a whole case of ivory figurines, I see. I collected them for a while. Only a few of them have any real value. By the by, Mr. Howard, I came to ask about Hart's Hendrix. You've had dealings with him, I suppose. Oh, yes. You see, Getman's murder is pretty well pinned on one of Hendrix messengers. It was his gun. Please don't repeat this, but it occurred to me that Hendrix also might have access to that gun. Oh, I see, I see. Do you know. Do you happen to know whether Hendrix and Getman got along all right together? Well, as far as I know. Of course, Hans is a shrewd Dutchman. He's an art dealer too. I gather your opinion of the integrity of art dealers is not too frightfully high. You Never can tell, Mr. Vance. You never can tell. Well, thank you, Mr. Howard. You've been most helpful. Most people would rather remove a nest of irate hornets than search for auto and home insurance. That's why the zebra searches for you. Comparing over 100 insurance companies to find savings no one else can compare. Today@the zebra.com. i think I'll wait inside. Well, Tony, nice sale you have here. Don't be funny, Tony. I'd like to ask you a question or so. Yeah? You trying to help me? Yes. What's your angle? Well, Tony, I'm of the opinion that jail is an unhealthy place to be. If you answer a few questions, I may be able to help get you out. Okay. What have I got to lose? Did Mr. Hendricks know about your trouble with Ms. Allen and Getman? If he did, I didn't tell him. He might have found out from Getman, though. That's right, too. Did Mr. Hendricks ever give you anything to deliver to Mr. Howard? Yeah, a couple of times. And that Mr. Howard is a right guy. And how did you come to that conclusion? Well, you see, I delivered a vase about a week ago and there was a party going on. Mr. Howard was pretty tight, and he spilled two drinks he was holding all over me. Oh, Mr. Vance. Just a moment, Sergeant. Go ahead, Tony. Well, he took my clothes and gave me one of his silk bathrobes to wear and had my clothes dried while I sat in the room. Then he gave me 10 bucks. I thought that was okay. Now, Sergeant, I found out if Mr. Markham was in his office like he asked me to. He is. All right. Thanks very much, Sergeant. You're a noble custodian of the law. I'll be right go right up and see him. Thank you, Tony. Don't worry too much, Vance. For heaven's sake, what did you bring me here to the museum for? Stop fretting, Markham. I wanted to lift you out of the hurly burly of your mundane world, far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, than to transport you to the cool halls of this temple of art. What sort of nonsense is that? Once in a while you've got to get away from jangling telephones, noisy courtrooms and intellectuals such as the good Sergeant Heath. You've got to get away and enter this world of beauty and quiet and romance. Look at the Etruscan shield in this case, Markham. Yeah, very nice. What stories it could tell how many heroes buckled it on and strolled bravely into battle, shouting some barbaric cry. Yet here it is today, still full of beauty. Ah, here's the Cellini cup. Remember there was a copy of it in that case in Getman's shop. Benvenuto Cellini. Artist, writer, swordsman, adventurer, the gay lover of the Renaissance. And over here. Now, Vance, you're not going to take me on a conducted tour of the Metropolitan Museum, are you? I've got work to do. All right, Markham, I have a few things to do myself. But if you and Sergeant Heath will arrange under some pretext for Howard and Hendricks to be at the Old World Curio shop two hours from now, I'll turn over the murder of Paul Getman to you at the conclusion of a short lecture. While Philo Vance is preparing to expose the murderer Paul Getman. May I take just a moment to speak about freshness and its importance in cigarettes? That's why Raleigh's are living in a brand new house. Raleigh's new house we speak about is a scientifically developed, highly protective inner lining that seals the Raleigh package, protects Raleigh's more expensive, more golden tobaccos against flavor. Stealing dryness preserves Raleigh's full, rich, satisfying flavor. This extra safeguard provides up to 400% more protection. Yes, Raleigh's goodness is sealed in because dryness is sealed out. And this extra protection ensures Raleigh's perfection. Next time get America's fresher cigarette, Raleigh's. And now here's Philo Vance. Well, Howard and Hendricks put in their appearance at the Old World Curio Shop on the dot of eight with Markham and Sergeant Heath. Howard was his usual jovial self, but Hendricks was quiet and it seemed to me a little suspicious. I had chairs arranged around a table, seated Howard and Hendricks with their backs to the showcases. Markham tossed the conversational ball right into my lap. Mr. Vance will explain this meeting to you, gentlemen. Ah, yes, yes. Well, you both have something you want to get out of this shop. And knowing how complicated the legal machinery that Mr. Markham so valiantly protects is, I persuaded him to settle the whole thing tonight and save both of you the inconvenience of waiting for Getman's fares to be settled. Mr. Hendricks, I believe there's something of yours here in the shop that Getman was repairing for you. A large cloisonne elephant. And Mr. Howard, you wanted to buy the contents of one of these showcases, didn't you? That's right, Mr. Vance. Getman and I had already agreed on a price of 4,000. Which seems more than fair to me. It's amazing, isn't it, how a small piece of lead can complicate the lives of a lot of people. Tony Carpini didn't simplify matters for either of you. Then he's the one who did it, huh? That's right, Mr. Howard Church a femme. I didn't know I had a man like that working for me. Funny, I always thought he was a nice boy. Well, I don't agree with Sergeant Heath's church a femme theory as he calls it. I think the motive was robbery. There was one item in this case that Tony might have thought represented a fortune in itself. Just a minute. It was this item right here. Look. A copy of the Cellini cup. This is what lured a man to the depths of murder. But it never will again because I'm going to smash it to pieces on this table. Don't do that. Don't you fool. Stop. That's the real cop. That's the original. Stop it, you idiot. You're smashing one of the greatest treasures in the world. Sergeant Heath, you may arrest Mr. Howard for the murder of Paul Getman. Well, Markham, the admirable Curry has just informed me that he will serve dinner in three minutes. Lance, you irritating so and so. Sit down and tell me how you knew Howard murdered Getman. His confession clears Tony, but there's still a lot of things unanswered. Well, there's no point in my being coy with you, Markham. Where should I begin? Why did Howard kill Getman? His confession explains that. But suppose I put it in order. A, Howard was a wealthy art collector who wanted something he couldn't buy. The Cellini cup that was in the museum. B, Getman was a clever goldsmith who did repair work for the museum. He had access to the Cellini cup. C, Howard bribed Getman to make a copy of the cup and substitute it for the original. But D, Getman made two copies, substituted one for the original which he kept, and sent the other copy to Howard, who E for exterminate decided to kill him when he found he had been double crossed and did. Yes, yes, Vance, I know all that. And it isn't necessary to talk to me as though I were a child. I'm not at all sure about that, Markham. Oh, go on, go on. What about the bullet from Tony Carpini's gun matching the one that killed Getman? Stop giving me the story in driblets. Well, at that party Ms. Allen went to, she mentioned to Howard that Tony had threatened to kill Getman. And Howard realized he had a perfect fall guy. Shall we say he ordered some items sent from Hendrix. And then Tony delivered it. Howard spilled the drinks on him with a pretext of drying his Clothes. Howard got a hold of the gun, took it to the basement, fired several shots into something that wouldn't destroy the markings on the bullets, then cleaned the gun and replaced the empty shells. Yes, but how did he shoot Getman with that bullet? Oh, very simple. Howard owned a pair of muzzle loading dueling pistols, and he loaded one of them with the bullet from the gun. Remember that charred piece of cloth that was near the body? Yes, that was used to tamp the powder down. And remember Sergeant Heath remarked about the hole the bullet made, that it was large, and he'd guessed the bullet was a.45. Well, the.32 bullet was a little small for the gun. And it wasn't going straight when it hit Getman. Howard was an ingenious devil, wasn't he? Come, come, Markham. Don't give him all the applause. Save a little for me. All right, you too are an ingenious devil. But what made you suspect Howard? A number of things. First, my suspicions were aroused when he offered twice as much for the contents of that case containing the Cellini cup as they were worth. Then it seemed strange that a man of Howard's position would invite Getman and his lady love to one of his parties. Of course, though they were partners in crime. Yes, that seemed odd to me, too. It bothered me. And I dropped in to chat with Howard about it. Saw the dueling pistols and the little cloth patches, and also discovered to my surprise, that he already had a copy of the Cellini cup. Why should he want another? So you took another look at the Warren Getman shop, found it was the original, and dragged me over to the museum. Where you saw a copy in place of the original. Excellent. An astounding piece of deduction, Markham. I exchanged the cups with a full cooperation of two dazed directors of the museum, then pulled the psychological rabbit out of my hat. But why did you have me bring Hendrix over here to the shop, too? Well, there was a possibility that Getman might have gone to Hendrix with the cup, hoping to sell it to him and get some money in addition to what Howard had already given him. Who knows? Perhaps he did and Hendricks had access to Tony's gun. But I was sure that a man who was willing to risk his life and reputation for that cup couldn't sit quietly and see it smashed in front of his eyes. Lance, you're an amazing person. I'm also hungry. Come, Arkham. I see curry signaling that dinner is served. I hope the chicken tetrazzini is good. Catching a murderer has given me quite an appetite. Brawley. Cigarettes are protected in a way that no other cigarette is protected. Raleigh's live in a new house. A revolutionary new package that keeps them factory fresh. Raleigh's special package provides up to 400% greater protection than the package on all other leading brands against loss of freshness, loss of flavor. Why not smoke the cigarette you know is fresh? Raleigh's America's freshest cigarette. Next week at the same time, the makers of Raleigh cigarettes will again present Philo Vance to tell you and your friends another exciting story. A story he calls the Mystery of the Singing Cat. The part of Philo Vance was played by John Emery. Tom Shirley speaking this is the National Broadcasting Company. Come explore the wild heart of Utah with oars. No notifications, no meetings, no signal. Just you, the river and the space to reconnect with what matters most. From one day adventures in Dinosaur National Monument to week long journeys through Canyonlands and beyond, OARS delivers unforgettable guided rafting experiences on some of the most iconic rivers in the West. Visit oars.comutah to start planning your next great adventure. Let's go rafting. Most people would rather attend a corporate team building workshop than search for auto and home insurance. Go team. Feel that synergy. That's why the zebra searches for you. Comparing over 100 insurance companies to find savings no one else can compare. Today@the zebra.com who's ready for the trust fall.