Originally Aired: June 6, 1950
Philo Vance #100, "The Alibi Murder Case," Philo Vance finds himself in District Attorney Markham's office at precisely 11 o'clock at night, waiting for a mysterious phone call that supposedly could save someone's life. When John Green of the Whitmere Apartments calls in a panic, claiming he's in terrible trouble, he's cut off mid-conversation by what sounds like gunshots. Vance and Markham rush to investigate what appears to be a carefully orchestrated murder. Soon after, a conversation in a public library reveals the shocking truth: Lucy Green and Edward Lee, a tenant in the building, are romantically involved and have somehow managed to kill John Green while both maintaining perfect alibis for the exact time of death.
The case becomes more complicated when young Bill Steadman, who has been losing thousands of dollars to Eddie Lee in gin rummy games, comes to Vance with accusations against Lee. Despite Steadman's insistence that Lee is the murderer, Vance faces a seemingly impossible problem: Edward Lee has an ironclad alibi, confirmed by neighbors who place him elsewhere at the moment Markham heard the fatal shots over the telephone. Now Vance must unravel how a murder was committed when the killer couldn't possibly have been present.