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Narrator
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.
Announcer
When a man is wealthy, a widower without children, it's possible for some dishonest person to try and get his money away from him. When the widower lost his only child in a drowning some nine years ago, the most logical way to get the money, since the body of the drowned child was never recovered, would be to pretend to be the dead girl. Hello, creeps. This is T4Y opening the doors of the Mystery Playhouse. Tonight we celebrate the return of the master of them all, the inimitable Philo Vance. The story, the Case of the Girl who came back about 10 minutes ago. In Philo Vance's apartment, the eminent detective has just finished luncheon alone. Now, however, he has a guest and she's very much at home, even with his servant, curry.
Jean Martin
Lay out Mr. Vance's water wings, will you, Curry?
Lane
We're going swimming.
Bill
We are not, Mr. Vance.
Jean Martin
Vance, really, it's a terrific day. I phoned Washington and there isn't any detecting for me to do.
Lane
Please take me swimming.
Philo Vance
It's on the island, no doubt, along with 7 million others who've got the same idea.
Lane
It'd be fun, Mr. Vance.
Philo Vance
It would be a nightmare. I loathe floundering about in water like a canned salmon. What is it, Perry?
Lane
You are a canned salmon.
Bill
This gentleman, Mr. Vance, remember, he's been
Jean Martin
waiting for you to finish lunch.
Lane
The one in the hall.
Jean Martin
He was sitting there when I came in.
Philo Vance
Don't come in. Curry.
Bill
Yes, sir.
Philo Vance
Wait a minute, wait a minute. What's his name?
Bill
Martin, Mr. Vance. John Martin.
Lane
Maybe he'll take me swimming.
Philo Vance
You can dream, can't you, Mr. Martin.
Mr. Martin
Mr. Martin.
Philo Vance
Come in, please.
Mr. Martin
Thank you.
You're.
You're Mr. Philo Vance?
Philo Vance
I am. This is Ms. Randall, my swimming instructor.
Mr. Martin
I beg your pardon.
Lane
How do you do, Mr. Martin?
Mr. Martin
You're. You're probably wondering why I'm here. Mr. Vance, I just had to come to you. This thing is so. So unbelievable, so fantastic.
Lane
Let's hear it, Mr. Martin.
Mr. Martin
I beg your pardon.
Philo Vance
Ms. Randall, I ought to say, is a detective, Mr. Martin, in manner of speaking.
Mr. Martin
Oh, I see.
Lane
Thanks for the manner of speaking.
Philo Vance
Don't mention it. Just what is your story, Mr. Martin? Perhaps I can suggest someone who'll be glad to help.
Mr. Martin
It's horrible, Mr. Vance. You see, I live out on Long Island, Great Neck, Long Island. I have a Home there on the water.
Philo Vance
I know the fiction.
Mr. Martin
I'm alone now. My wife died six years ago.
Philo Vance
I see.
Mr. Martin
You may remember. It was in the papers. Our only child was ground on our beach when she was 11.
Lane
Oh, I'm sorry.
Mr. Martin
It was a great tragedy, Ms. Randall. Mrs. Martin never really got over it.
Philo Vance
Oh, then this wasn't recent?
Mr. Martin
Oh, no, no. Jean was drowned nine years ago, Mr. Vance.
Philo Vance
1936.
Mr. Martin
Yes, yes, that's right. My wife died three years later. The child and I were swimming together. I can remember it so plainly. She ventured out too far while I was on shore and she. She was caught in a riptide.
Lane
How horrible.
Mr. Martin
I. I heard her scream, but I couldn't reach her. I saw her body carried out to sea, Mr. Ans, I. I saw it myself.
Philo Vance
It was recovered.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Never. No.
Mr. Martin
From that day to this, her body was never found. Oh, I spent thousands mis events just to give her poor mother that much peace of mind. But her body was never washed in.
Philo Vance
Well, I am sorry, Mr. Martin. I can understand a tragedy like that, but I don't quite see.
Mr. Martin
Yesterday, Mr. Vance, Jean came home.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
What?
Philo Vance
Yes, I didn't quite get that myself.
Mr. Martin
This. This girl, this fraud, Mr. Vance, this cunning little imposter. She came to my home yesterday and tried to tell me she's my own daughter.
Philo Vance
But, Mr. Martin, surely. Surely you can tell.
Mr. Martin
Why, of course I can tell. He's a scheming Little cheek, Mr. Vance. He's no more my gene than. Than this lady is.
Lane
I hardly see that it's anything to worry about. Mr. Martin. Why not phone the police?
Mr. Martin
I want it to. I want it to at once. But my law firm bears my name, you see. Unpleasant publicity of that sort. Notoriety? No. I owe it to my associates to keep it out of the papers.
Philo Vance
But obviously, if the girl is an imposter, you can make short work of her. Pick her up on some simple little reference to her past. To her mother, it seems. Easy, Mr. Martin. That's just it.
Mr. Martin
This girl knows more about me than I do myself. Terrifying, Mr. Vance. She knows the house, the grounds, the countryside. And she swears she's my daughter.
Lane
I don't mean to be simple, but where does she say she's been all this time?
Mr. Martin
Oh, she has a story for that, too. Says that she was washed up on shore, a complete victim of amnesia. There's the gall of it. Tried to tell me she's been without memory for nine years and came out of it this week in a fall down the stairs.
Lane
She sounds clever.
Philo Vance
You don't recognize her of course I'm sure.
Mr. Martin
She's not my daughter, Mr. Vance. Definitely sure.
Philo Vance
Well, she would change, naturally. She was 11 when she was drowned. 20 now. She changed a great deal.
Lane
Oh, not that much, Vance.
Philo Vance
Yet you say she seems well acquainted with her alleged home, Mr. Martin.
Mr. Martin
It's amazing. That's why I can't call the police. Her story is just convincing enough.
Announcer
They'd.
Mr. Martin
They'd drag it through the papers for weeks.
Lane
She's working with someone. Of course. Someone who's told her the right answers. Right, Vance?
Philo Vance
You know, I'd like to meet a girl who would plan a game like this. I really would.
Mr. Martin
Then you'll. You'll help me, Mr. Vance? You'll expose her?
Philo Vance
Still sold on that swim lane?
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
No.
Lane
Not while you cavort with the 20 year old ghost, darling. I'll stick with you.
Mr. Martin
And this brings us back to the library, Mr. Vance. Now you've seen the whole estate.
Philo Vance
You're a camera enthusiast, Ms. Martin?
Mr. Martin
Huh? Oh, those enlargements. Yes, I dabble in it. When the war broke out, my doctors told me to do something to quiet my nerves. So I took up photography.
Philo Vance
Some of these are excellent.
Mr. Martin
I have a dark room downstairs. I'll open it up if you like.
Philo Vance
I'd enjoy it. And now if you'll send the young lady in, please.
Mr. Martin
I'll tell you how grateful I am, Mr. Vance. It's been a terrible strain. Mr. Vance wants to see you.
Jean Martin
What about?
Philo Vance
Come in.
Mr. Martin
Miss.
Lane
Ms. Martin. Gene Martin.
Philo Vance
Yes, so we've heard. Sit down, Ms. Martin. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few questions.
Jean Martin
I suppose he hired you.
Philo Vance
On the contrary, I should have paid to meet you. I admire your courage.
Jean Martin
You're very funny.
Announcer
You.
Philo Vance
You contend you've been an amnesia victim for nine years, is that right?
Jean Martin
That's right.
Lane
But surely you know where you've been?
Jean Martin
I remember falling. I must have hit my head because there's a bump on it. And that's all?
Philo Vance
That's all?
Jean Martin
When I came to, I was about a block from here. That was last night. You mean you don't know where you've
Lane
been for nine years?
Mr. Martin
You heard me.
Lane
Oh, your language, chum doesn't quite go with the day tour around here.
Jean Martin
Okay, so maybe the last nine years weren't so good. How do I know?
Philo Vance
Well, that lane puts you in a well known place.
Jean Martin
Listen, mister, I'm Gene Martin and you and nobody else can prove any different. So let's get down to terms.
Announcer
Terms?
Philo Vance
What kind of terms?
Jean Martin
Oh, he didn't tell you that, huh? Well, listen. My grandfather was stinking rich. He was lousy with it, see? And it all came to me. Only my father was to get it if I died.
Philo Vance
And now you come back for the money that's rightfully yours, is that it?
Jean Martin
You think I'm gonna let him keep it?
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
He won't even listen to me.
Lane
Imagine being so mean.
Jean Martin
You keep out of this.
Mr. Martin
Careful, girl.
Philo Vance
You did miss up on one small detail. You know, Jean Martin had a scar on her right wrist. A rather prominent scar.
Jean Martin
And you haven't a scar can heal, can't it? I had the scar. It's gone now. It's been gone for years. Oh, brother, you're really good.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Listen, you.
Philo Vance
Wait a minute. Keep talking. Lane.
Lane
What?
Philo Vance
There's someone listening at the door.
Lane
I know what I'd like to say.
Jean Martin
A nice afternoon like this and we come all the way out here to.
Philo Vance
Care to join us?
Bill
Come in.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Hey, hey.
Narrator
Mud door. Me?
Philo Vance
Gladly. And who, might I ask, are you?
Lane
A long lost brother, no doubt.
Bill
Well, I. I work here. I'm the chauffeur.
Jean Martin
That's right, he is. Bill and I used to play together when we were kids.
Lane
Would you say that Slowly, honey, I'm a little sick today.
Jean Martin
His father worked here for us before Bill was brought up on the estate. We used to play together all the time.
Philo Vance
That right, Bill?
Bill
I never saw her before in my life.
Jean Martin
Why, you.
Philo Vance
But you did live here. You did play with the real Gene Martin.
Mr. Martin
Sure.
Bill
She was a great little kid. I taught her to swim.
Philo Vance
You remember a scar on her wrist, of course.
Bill
Sure I do. Right here. About an inch and a half. She got it cutting a watermelon at a picnic out on the lawn. Heck, I went with her when my dad drove her into town to the doctor.
Philo Vance
I see. Well, you've been a great help, Bill. You'll be around if I need you again.
Bill
Yeah, I'll be around.
Mr. Martin
Thank you.
Jean Martin
Listen, he's lying, I tell you. He remembers me.
Mr. Martin
He must.
Lane
Sure, honey, we all do.
Philo Vance
Now, will you ask your papa to come in here?
Bill
Jean?
Jean Martin
Listen, you can stop cracking, both of you. Because I'm Gene Martin, brother, and that sticks.
Philo Vance
Ask him to come in, please.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Sure, go ahead.
Jean Martin
Play detective all you like. Hey, Daddy.
Mr. Martin
You're through, Mr. Vance.
Philo Vance
Well, it wasn't much effort, Mr. Martin. The local police could have handled the situation nicely. Let's all sit down a moment.
Mr. Martin
Sure.
Jean Martin
I got all the time in the world.
Mr. Martin
You scheming little.
Jean Martin
Take it easy, Daddy.
Philo Vance
On the way out here, young lady. Mr. Martin explained that you're unusually well acquainted with this house. In short, that you can answer questions an outsider wouldn't know.
Jean Martin
I told you I used to live here, remember?
Philo Vance
You knew, for instance, that your mother played the piano. That the rose garden was once to the north rather than where it is now. That the roof on the east wing is new.
Mr. Martin
Yes, there was a great deal more, Mr. Vance. It's uncanny.
Philo Vance
Well, obviously the girl's been well coached. Is Bill in on the deal?
Mr. Martin
Jean, My chauffeur, Bill.
Lane
We've met him, Mr. Martin.
Mr. Martin
Why, that's absurd. I practically raised the boy myself. His father died right here in my employ.
Jean Martin
Try again, Mr. Detectives.
Philo Vance
Suppose we try Money, Jean. Does that interest you?
Jean Martin
Sure it does, if the money belongs to me. Don't forget I'm Jean martin.
Philo Vance
You know, Mr. Martin, the girl might be telling the truth.
Jean Martin
Oh, that.
Philo Vance
Why, that's ridiculous, Mr. Vance.
Mr. Martin
I'm surprised you mentioned such a thing.
Philo Vance
Stranger things have happened, you know. And the girl is right. Childhood scars do disappear in time. But.
Mr. Martin
But I.
Philo Vance
As for her amnesia, that's entirely possible, too.
Jean Martin
Now, you're doing okay, Vance. What in the.
Philo Vance
My suggestion, Mr. Martin. We said we settle this some way. Now, right here in this room, I.
Mr. Martin
I think I'll have a drink.
Philo Vance
Well, perhaps that would help us all.
Lane
Lane, you sound like you've had 10 bands.
Philo Vance
Like any food later, pets, when we're around.
Mr. Martin
There's only scotch here in the library if you.
Philo Vance
Well, that will do nicely, thanks.
Jean Martin
Let me pour the drink. I'm the daughter, you know.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
You want one, too?
Lane
I might as well. I feel it already.
Jean Martin
Here you are, Mr. Vance.
Philo Vance
Ah, thank you. Now then, let's drink to the success of our bargaining. How's that? To the success of what we'll accomplish here, Mr. Vance.
Mr. Martin
Wait. What, Miss Mont. Drink. That is poison, Vance. That glass is full of poison, Vance.
Philo Vance
Well, I seem to have spilled my drink, Vance.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
You didn't drink it.
Philo Vance
Thanks, Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Martin
Well, I'm sorry I had to knock it out of your hand, Mr. Vance. You devil.
Lane
Why, listen.
Mr. Martin
Smell that, Mr. Vance? Why know that odor anywhere? It's the emulsion I use in my dark room downstairs. You little fiend. You knew I kept chemicals in there. Then when Mr. Vance was going to expose you, you decided to poison him.
Good Lord.
Philo Vance
I. I am grateful to you, Mr. Martin. It seems I almost drank a developer.
Mr. Martin
Highball.
Jean Martin
You're off the beam, all of you.
Mr. Martin
Why are you. You keep quiet.
I've had enough out of you. Well, Mr. Vance, shall I call the Police.
Philo Vance
It won't be necessary, Mr. Martin. Ms. Randall and I are driving into town. We'll take our young friend with us.
Jean Martin
Why, you chump.
Philo Vance
Oh, and I'd like to take Bill, too. Mr. Martin. I'm not entirely sure he isn't mixed up in this.
Mr. Martin
Take them all. I just want this woman out of my house.
Philo Vance
I assure you, Mr. Martin, you've seen the last of her.
Bill
Want me to stay in here, Mr. Vance? I mean, with all this?
Philo Vance
No, I think not. Curry. I'll call if I need you.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Yes?
Lane
Oh, Vance, dear.
Philo Vance
Yes, Lane?
Lane
Is it fair if I ask just one little question?
Philo Vance
By all means.
Lane
What in the name of. What are we doing here in your apartment?
Jean Martin
Let's take these two down to the district attorney's office and be done with it.
Bill
Look, Mr. Vance, you got me all wrong. I never saw this dame before until last night.
Jean Martin
Oh, yes, you did, Billy. Yes, you did.
Philo Vance
All right, kids, I think the show's gone far enough. You can take that layer of skin off your wrist.
Lane
Jean Vance.
Jean Martin
What in the world.
Philo Vance
This is what I mean. Jean, let me have your wrist a moment.
Bill
Get away from her.
Philo Vance
All right, Bill. I'm quite convinced she is Jean Martin. See? Just an ordinary skin patch, isn't it, Jean? And very neatly applied, too.
Jean Martin
She. She's got the scar.
Philo Vance
She has. Ms. Martin, Ms. Randall.
Lane
How do you do?
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
You win, Mr. Grant.
Philo Vance
You found her force, Bill?
Bill
Yes, sir. I never gave up looking for Jean.
Philo Vance
The amnesia story is true, then?
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Quite true, Mr. Vance. I came to on the beach about six miles from our heart on the day I was supposed to be drowned. I mean, I was 11 years old.
Bill
The doctors figured a wave threw her up against a log or something in the water. Mr. Vance, her head was cut.
Philo Vance
And then Jean.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Well, I couldn't remember anything, Mr. Vance. For days I'd walked you around in a kind of a dream. And then finally I was taken to the Good Shepherd Orphanage. Well, you can phone them and check if you like. I've been working there for my boarding room.
Philo Vance
Go on.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Well, just as Bill said, he always looked for me. He never believed I was John.
Bill
I couldn't afford to hire detectives or advertisements to Vance especially working right there
Announcer
in the Martin home.
Bill
I'd just ask questions and write letters. Then when a reply sounded worthwhile, well, I'd investigate in my time off.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
And one letter came to the Good shepherd asking about an amnesia case in 1936. So they told Bill about me. Bill came up to see me, and here we are.
Announcer
I see.
Philo Vance
Well, that clears up A great deal.
Lane
Dance? You're out of your mind. Why, those two are bigger phonies than I thought.
Philo Vance
Why, Lane?
Jean Martin
Well, for one thing, why did our hero here keep all this from the girl's father? Why not let him spend his money
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
looking for his own daughter?
Bill
He thought she was dead.
Jean Martin
Oh, and you knew better, I suppose.
Bill
Mr. Martin was careful that there was almost no publicity at the time of the drowning, Ms. Randall. Just a little too careful. Why does he want to keep it quiet when the body wasn't found?
Lane
Okay, we'll skip that for a minute. Suppose you are Jean Martin.
Jean Martin
Why the mystery? Why cover up the one scar that proves it? Why play the tough little mole with us all afternoon? And you, Bill, you pretended you didn't even know her.
Lane
What goes on here?
Philo Vance
Fair question, Lane going to answer Jean.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Well, you're convinced that I am Jean Martin, Mr. Garrett?
Philo Vance
Beyond a doubt.
Narrator
Jean.
Philo Vance
Even without the scar, I knew it before we left your home.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
All right, then, I'll tell you. My father tried to murder me. What? Yes, I know that sounds strange, but that's true. I wasn't carried away by the tide that day. And he wasn't on the shore as he said.
Bill
He held her head underwater, Mr. Vance. Held her and pushed her out to sea.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
And when I got back, I knew if I proved I was Gene right away he'd try to murder me again. And if I went to the police, he'd call me an imposter. He'd even lie about my scar. So the only thing to do was to throw him off his guard by convincing him that I was of faith.
Bill
You see, we hoped we could find a way to trick him into admitting he tried to kill her. We planned it together, Mr. Vance. And when Mr. Martin called you in, we didn't know what to do.
Lane
You see, Lane, just get me Vance. I'm so dizzy. Now, just let me sit here and spin.
Philo Vance
It's quite simple, really. Martin called me in to bolster his own case. Now I think we'll unbolster it a little.
Bill
But how, Mr. Vance? What can we do now? He's got all Gene's money, everything.
Philo Vance
Jean, I told you once today, you've got nerves. Think you can use it again?
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
I can try, Mr. Vance.
Mr. Martin
Good.
Philo Vance
Now here's exactly what I want you to do.
Bill
Mr. Martin, sir.
Mr. Martin
Yes, Bill?
Bill
That boat's loose again, sir. I'm afraid it's been damaged, hitting against the dock.
Mr. Martin
Can't you keep that boat tied up properly?
Bill
I'm sorry, Mr. Martin. I. I wasn't here this afternoon, you know.
Mr. Martin
Oh, yes, yes, that's true. I'm glad you came out clean in that nasty mess, Bill. Mr. Vance called and told me the police are convinced that you had nothing to do with that. That girl.
Bill
Yes, sir.
Mr. Martin
Well, we'll just forget the whole incident, son. Boat damaged, you say?
Bill
Yes, sir. I wish you'd go down and look for yourself, Mr. Martin, and you can tell me what's to be done.
Mr. Martin
All right, I will. Nice night like this, I ought to be outside. Yes, go along, son. I'll look at it directly.
Bill
Yes, sir. I'll be in my quarters if you want.
Mr. Martin
Thank you, Bill. Oh, beautiful night. Really beautiful. I ought to get the camera like that. I might get a good shot without a light at all. Good boy, Dale. Comes of good, solid stuff. Well, I should have told him to turn on the flood lights down here. How does he think I can inspect the bolt without lights?
Announcer
Yeah.
Mr. Martin
My, what a wonderful night. One I. I could have sworn I. That song. I must. Must be asleep.
Stop that.
Philo Vance
Stop that singing.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
You used to sing it to me when I was a little girl. You and mother would come into my
Lane
room at night and you'd sing it to me.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Remember, Daddy?
Mr. Martin
Stop it, I say.
Who are you?
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Look at my wrist. See the scar on my wrist? The scar I got cutting the melon on the lawn.
Lane
You remember, Daddy?
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Mother was there, Aunt was there. Remember, James? I was 10 when I got that scar.
Jean Martin
And when I was 11.
Mr. Martin
Shut up.
Jean Martin
Shut up. I said when I was 11.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
We went swimming one afternoon.
Lane
Right here, Daddy. Right here at this pier.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
You remember the day, I mean, don't you? You let me hold on to your
Lane
back while we swam way out, Daddy.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Way out where the water's deep and cold. And then you took hold of my neck.
Jean Martin
Remember?
Lane
You held it and you pulled.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Pushed me down, down into the water.
Jean Martin
Remember how I tried to scream? Remember how I felt struggling in your arms?
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Do you?
Mr. Martin
You. You didn't die.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
You tried to murder me in this water. You held me down until you thought I was dead.
Jean Martin
But I didn't drown, Daddy. You see, I'm here now. I'm right here in front of you.
Lane
You fool.
Mr. Martin
You think you could come back now? Did you think I'd let you come
Jean Martin
back after all I did?
Mr. Martin
That money's mine and it's going to stay mine. I thought I murdered you once. This time I'll do it right. Same water in it.
Philo Vance
Well, you'll see.
Mr. Martin
You have a radiant. You'll find.
Philo Vance
Miss Martin. Don't move, please. I have A gun.
Mr. Martin
Ben, Where'd you come from?
Philo Vance
From under the pier. In a word.
Mr. Martin
Oh, Bill.
Philo Vance
Light, please.
Mr. Martin
Light.
Jean Martin
Mr. Bash.
Mr. Martin
Did it work?
Philo Vance
Beautifully, Lane. He planted down her just as I said he would. You all right, Gene? Get up on the pier.
Mr. Martin
Martin.
Philo Vance
Watch him, Bill. I'll help.
Mr. Martin
Gene. Gene.
Announcer
Oh, Gene, darling.
Lane
Good work.
Mr. Martin
I heard you.
Philo Vance
Take Mr. Bobber, please, and escort Mr. Martin up to my car. You'll find Curry and some officers waiting.
Bill
Yes, sir. Come on, Martin, this is the end of the line.
Philo Vance
Well, do you by any chance have a spare towel? Lane, the bottom rung of that ladder down there was just a little wet.
Lane
Bamps, tell me something before I bust. Oh, don't be stuffy. Why were you sure Jean was Jean? Because you saw the fake scar tissue on her wrist.
Philo Vance
Well, that helped, Lane, but I wasn't sure until Martin tried to make it look as if she'd poisoned my drink. But elementary, as that man would say. Martin told me he installed his photographic room after the market crash in 1939. Remember?
Lane
Yes, of course, but I still don't.
Philo Vance
But, but, but, darling, when he turned on Jean and accused her of stealing chemicals for my drink, he said she knew the dark room was there. She couldn't have if she were his daughter. He drowned her three years before it was put in. And if she was a phony, she was too well coaxed to betray herself that way. And finally, Peter, the dark room was locked. Martin said as much himself.
Lane
You know, Vance, in a way you're rather hostile.
Philo Vance
Cold and wet at the moment. Well, give me that towel.
Lane
Oh, nothing. I was just thinking you really got that swim after all.
Announcer
Thank you, Philo Vance, for the case of the girl who came Back. Now it's getting early again. This is T4Y closing the doors of the Mystery Playhouse. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Good night. Sleep tight. This is the Armed Forces Radio Service.
Narrator
It.
Jean Martin (revealed identity)
Sam.
Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Episode: Philo Vance: The Girl Who Came Back (Original Broadcast 07/26/1945)
Release Date: March 14, 2026
This classic radio detective episode centers on Philo Vance investigating an incredible claim: the return of a wealthy man's daughter who was presumed drowned as a child nine years earlier. Her sudden reappearance, complete with intimate knowledge of the family estate, sets off a tangle of suspicion, imposture, long-hidden secrets, and ultimately, a deadly confrontation. The episode places classic detective tropes—amnesia, family inheritance, and murder—into the hands of clever, bantering characters and unfurls a tightly plotted, suspenseful story.
The episode features snappy, era-appropriate banter (especially between Vance and his sidekick Lane), rich melodrama, and suspenseful turns. The cast plays into classic radio detective archetypes: the tenacious detective, the wounded heiress, the desperate father, and the loyal friend.
Lane’s quips and skepticism as Vance’s helper provide comic moments that soften the otherwise tense confrontation at the story’s heart.
A masterful old time radio mystery—equal parts engrossing and chilling—with Philo Vance at his wittiest and most incisive.