Originally Aired: November 29, 1949
Philo Vance #73, "Thundering Murder Case," opens on a stormy night as the cantankerous David Wilkins berates his niece Wanda over the telephone about her failing marriage. He offers to pay off her husband to make him disappear permanently, insisting she come to his apartment immediately despite the pouring rain. The conversation is interrupted when his neighbor arrives at the door with homemade soup, only to receive a vicious verbal assault from the ungrateful Wilkins, who rails against her intrusion into his privacy and dismisses her kindness with shocking cruelty.
After driving his neighbor away, Wilkins returns to his phone call and demands that Wanda hurry over while he's still in the mood to help her. As the rain pounds outside, he ominously remarks that it's "really a night for a murder." The stage is set for Philo Vance to investigate what promises to be a case involving bitter family disputes, unwelcome visitors, and deadly consequences on this thundering, storm-filled evening.