 What is it? Another case for Nick Carter, master detective. Yes, it's another case for that most famous of all man hunters, the detective whose ability at solving crime is unequaled in the history of detective fiction, Nick Carter, master detective. Tonight's curious adventure. The substitute, Brock. A young man here to see you says he's no friend of yours. Well, hello, Nick. Ellen Marvin. Well, Ellen, it's good to see you again. And what brings you to this part of the country? I came east to get married, Nick. Well, congratulations. Wait a minute, I'm afraid your congratulations are a little premature. What's the matter? I don't know. I can't find her. Can't find her? Well, what on earth do you mean by that? Well, look, it's like this, Nick. Alice Evans and I have been engaged for about four years. But for the past three years, she's been living in South America with friends of her family. She was due back in this country yesterday on the galley, so I came on from Chicago to meet her. Her boat got in ahead of schedule, and my train was late, so we missed connections. I'd already told her I was coming, but in spite of that, she was gone by the time I got to the dock last night. Didn't she leave any message for you? No, not a word. Sad? And she has no friends in this part of the country that she could stay with. Well, didn't anyone at the boat know where she went? Apparently not, Nick. The stewardess says a boy brought her a note, and as soon as she read it, she got dressed and went ashore. There was a taxi waiting for her, and she went off in it. Now, later, an expressman called for her trunks. Perhaps she went to a hotel. Hotel, but why should she do that when I told her that I'd meet her at the boat? No, Nick. Something has happened, or I'm sure of it. Nick, the morning paper says that the Miss Alice Evans registered at the Hamilton Park Hotel. What's that? Would that be the same girl? Here, let me see that. Will you quick? Right here. Well, and she did go to a hotel. Oh, gee, what a fool I was for worrying you, Nick. I'll take nothing of it, Alan. Glad you found her. Well, if you don't mind, Nick, I think I'll... She'd better go right ahead. I know how anxious you are to see her. Hey, look, Nick, why don't you come with me? I'd like very much to have you meet her. Well, Alan, this seems hardly the time to... Oh, come on, no, Nick, come on. I want you to meet her. You'll like her. Well, all right, if you insist. But I've heard it said that three is usually a crowd, especially after two of them have been separated for three years. Taxi! Taxi! Second and fifth rather. I gather that you feel that our visit to the young lady was not a complete success. Nick, something's wrong. I don't know what. So I noticed. That's why I stayed until you left. I tell you, she's changed. I can't put my finger on it, but she's different somehow. Three years is a long time, Alan. Some change would be quite natural. But it isn't that kind of change, Nick. Doesn't she look the same? She doesn't. She doesn't. You mean you don't think she is, Emma Sevens? She must be. Yet? Then you're not sure. I wish her father were here. He'd know immediately whether she's his daughter or not. Where is he? Chicago? I don't know. He told me he was meeting the boat, but as far as I know, he hasn't shown up. She said she hadn't seen him. Well, he probably was delayed in getting away. Look, you don't suppose anything could have happened to him, do you? You know, like so many rich men, he always carried several hundred dollars with him. Well, that's possible, of course, Alan. Was there anything distinctive about his appearance? Well, he was a shortish man, stout, white hair. Oh, yeah, he wore old-fashioned side whiskers. Well, those should make him easy to identify. I'll have Lieutenant Riley get in touch with the Chicago police and see if they know anything about him. Oh, good. Then I'll have Patsy make the round of the hospitals here in town. I'll send Penny to the terminal and the ferries to see if he can pick up any information about him there. Well, we ought to find out something that way. And I think my next step will be to visit the galley at her duck and see what I can learn there. The main reason I'm taking you to see Miss Evans-Perser is that I want you to tell me whether or not she's the girl who made the trip up in South America with you. I understand, sir. Are you the purser of the galley? Probably had as good a chance to see her as anyone. Oh, why, yes, sir. But none of us saw her very much. She took ill right after we sailed and stayed in the room almost the entire trip. Would you say you'd be able to identify her positively? Oh, yes, sir. I have excellent memory for faces. And she was a real looker. She was. Here's her hotel. Come on. Righto, sir. Here, we can take this elevator. Three, please. This is your floor. Our room's right across the corridor here. Oh, come in, Mr. Cardi. Thank you, Miss Evans. You, of course, know this gentleman, Miss Evans. Well, I... Well, let me see. Oh, it's hardly fair to expect her to remember me, Mr. Cardi. She was so ill every time I saw her that I doubt if she'd ever really got a good look at me the old voyage. Oh, I, of course. Now I know who you are. You're one of the officers off the galley here. We came up from South America together. That's right, Mum. See, sir, she knows me right enough. Oh, I knew I'd seen you somewhere. If I hadn't been so sick, I'd have remembered you at once. I see. Well, Miss Evans, our call is really in the nature of business. The first to find a valuable lot of jewelry left behind in the ship, and I was called in to help find the owner. As it was near your cabin, we come to you first. I haven't missed any of my jewels, but I'll let you know if I do. Thank you. Have you had any word from your father yet? No, not a word. Do you suppose anything's happened to him? What did he look like, Miss Evans? Why, he was... He... I'll show you his picture. You can tell better by that. Here you are, Mr. Carter. That's my father. Are you a detective? Yes, Miss Evans. I am. Then you must find him for me. I don't care what it costs. Very well. I'll see what I can do. Shall we go, Purser? Oh, yes, sir. Good day, Miss, and good luck to you. Goodbye, and thank you. I'll let you know as soon as I learn anything, Miss Evans. Good day. Well, Purser, was that the Miss Evans who made the trip with you in the galley? Oh, positively, sir. I'd know her anywhere. You're sure? There's no question, whatever, sir. I'd swear to it on a stack of bottles of foot I would... I couldn't find a thing, Nick. There's nobody in the hospitals who answers to the description of Mr. Evans. I hardly expected you'd find anything, Patsy. But we had to be sure. Did the Chicago police know anything about him? Riley said they had no report of anything having happened to him there. What did Penny find? Well, Penny hasn't come in yet. Oh, hey, Nick. I couldn't find any traces of the old boy at the tunnel. But I did find something at the ferry. What'd you find? Oh, that'll keep, Nick. Right now, I got a taxi waiting outside, and the driver of the taxi is the fellow who took Alice Evans from the boat to the hotel last night. And he knows something. How'd you find him? All the stewardess on the galley appointed him out to me. I'm afraid if I try to bring him in here, I'll scare him. I already asked him a lot of questions. I'll go outside and talk to him myself. Oh, driver, I'm Nick Carter. So what? I ain't interested. But I am. I'm interested in what you can tell me about a young lady you picked up at the galley last night. You took her to the Hamilton Park Hotel, didn't you? All right. So what if I did? Look, you'll save yourself time and trouble if you'll answer my questions. You picked her up about 8 o'clock, didn't you? Yeah, about that. How long a drive is it to the hotel? About a half hour. Maybe if the lights was against you, 45 minutes. And how does it happen that she didn't register in at the hotel until nearly 10 o'clock? Well, how did that? Where'd you go between the time you left the galley and the time you reached the hotel? I stopped over to House and 22nd Street for a while. Did Miss Evans leave the cab? Yeah. She said she wanted to see Winslow's daughter. Said they went to school together. You mean it was David Winslow's house you stopped at? Yeah, I said so, didn't I? Yes, she did. Thanks. Here. This will pay you for what's on the meter and for the information. OK. So long. Find out anything, Nick? That depends, Betsy. Now, Penny, what was the dope you got at the ferry? Well, it's like this, Nick. I found one of the ferry guards who remembered seeing an old guy with big white side whiskers get on the ferry. About the time Evans' train must have got in from Chicago, see? Well, this guard got such a kick out of the whiskers that he watched for the old guy to get off the boat at the other side so he could get another gander at him. And did he? No, the old guy didn't get off. What? Was he sure? Sure. And the old guy wasn't on the boat anywhere. Well, that could sound as if something might have happened to him during that ferry ride. Nick. Oh, Ellen. Nick, I've got some news. Mr. Evans was alive this morning. Is that so? How do you know? I'll tell you. I went to see Mr. Evans' bank of this afternoon to see if he had any word from him. He showed me a check that Mr. Evans had made out this morning, a check for $50,000. Dated this morning? Yes. It was made out to John Smith and endorsed by David Winslow. David Winslow? You sure of that, Ellen? Yes, I'm sure. Why, Nick? Here's why. Last night, a girl who claims to be Alice Evans but apparently isn't stops off at Winslow's house on the way to the hotel. Mr. Evans disappears last night, and yet a check made out by him this morning turns up endorsed by Winslow himself. Hey, wait a minute. That does look suspicious. Certainly does. Patsy, come on in the morning. You and I are going to call on Mr. Winslow. [? ? ?] It's very good of you to see me, Mr. Winslow. I'm Nick Carter, the detective. Yes, I have heard of you, Mr. Carter. And this is Miss Bowen, my assistant. How do you do, Mr. Winslow? Good morning, Mr. Winslow. What can I do for you, Mr. Carter? Mr. Winslow, you know James Evans only very slightly. You acquainted with his daughter, Alice? No, Mr. Carter, I'm not. I see. Did a check of Mr. Evans recently pass through your hands? Why, yes, it did. I cached one of his checks yesterday. Did you know that Mr. Evans disappeared the day before the date on that check? No, I didn't. Well, he did. You don't say. Would you be in a position to know if the signature on the check were a forgery? Well, the signature was genuine all right when Mr. Smith presented for payment a check in the amount of $50,000. I naturally sent the check to Mr. Evans' bank for verification. They said it was good, so I paid Smith the money. I see. You said a few moments ago that you didn't know Alice Evans. Yes, I did. But didn't she call here night before last? Well, yes, she did. She called to see my daughter. They were classmates at school. My daughter was not at home, so she talked to my wife for a while and left. Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Winslow. Not at all. Come on, Patsy. Time for running along. OK, Nick. Good morning, Mr. Winslow. Good morning. Day, Mr. Winslow. Good day to you, sir. Patsy had me tempted to believe what he said, even if I didn't know that he has an excellent reputation in banking circles here in town. Well, what he told us certainly sounded straightforward enough to lay. Don't bother, Patsy. See that man going in the house next door? Oh, yes. What about him, Nick? I saw that man at court a few weeks ago, charged with murderous assault. What? And now we found him going into the house next door to Winslow's. Patsy, why don't you get back to the office immediately? Tell Penny to see what he can find out about that house. The address is 832 West 22nd Street. Yes, Nick. I want to know more about that place. 832 West 22nd Street, Raleigh. No, well, no, Nick. That's a curious thing. One of the boys picked up a bum this morning. And when we searched him, we found a slip of paper in his pocket with that same address on it. Well, Raleigh, hold him. I'll be right down. I don't know, I tell you. How many times do I got to keep on saying that? You don't know who pushed the man off the ferry? Who kidnapped his daughter? Where she is now or anything about it? No, I tell you, no. Who's the girl who's staying at the Hamilton Park Hotel under the name of Evans? Where's the Hamilton Park Hotel? All right, Baker. All right. Guess I must have you all wrong. I'll say you have. You live at 832 West 22nd Street? Well, I don't exactly. No. Who does live there? Oh, how should I know? Where does David Winslow live? Ah, right next. Who's David Winslow? Raleigh. Yeah, Nick? I'm through with Baker. Not the fellow I thought he was. All right, Baker. The guard's waiting for you just outside the door. You'll take it back to yourself. OK. I hope you're getting what you're looking for, Carter. Well, Nick, what did you find? Raleigh. Baker thought he told me nothing. But his answers were as clear as he thought they were. Actually, he told me that Evans was thrown off the ferry into the river and that he was picked up in a rowboat, which was waiting for him. I also discovered that he knows David Winslow and that he knows what goes on at 832 West 22nd Street. All of which, while not conclusive, evidence tells me I'm on the right track. Nice going, Nick. Well, what's next? Raleigh, I want you to release this man Baker at once. Well, release him, Nick. But why? I want to be sure the rest of the gang knows I'm on their trail. The first thing Baker will do when he gets out of here will be to tell him. They'll undoubtedly make some move to try and stop me. And that may bring him out in the open. Benny, what did you find out? Well, I'll tell you, Nick. Whoever's running that gang's keeping it pretty secret. None of my old pals know anything about it. All I could find out is that the address is the hideout of what they call the secret six. Yeah. I ex-convict the car they call a butler. It takes care of the place during the day and keeps it cleaned up. That would be the man Patsy and I saw. What about David Winslow? Ah, nobody connects his name with it, nowhere. You must be extremely clever. Or I'm extremely clever. Or I'm extremely much of a dope. Ah, you're no dope, Nick. Hey, where's Patsy? She asked me to bring her back some peanuts. Oh, she wanted to see that girl who was posing as Alice Evans at her hotel. Hey, wait. I didn't realize it was so late. She should have been back by now. Found this note at her desk when I came in around lunchtime. And, dear Nick, girl who calls herself Alice Evans just called to say she had information on her father's disappearance. When I told her you weren't here, she asked me to go over and she'd give it to me and I could get it to you. We'll take a run over to the hotel and see what she wants. See you at the office when I get back, Patsy. And that was almost five hours ago. Say, look, should we go over there and have a look, see? Well, first I'll phone Miss Evans. Hamilton Park Hotel, that's, um, Shermore, three, two, four, two, three. Gee, if that bunch of crooks has tried anything on Patsy. Hamilton Park Hotel, good afternoon. Miss Alice Evans, please. Miss Evans, I'll connect you. Thank you. You know, I ain't known Patsy long, but she's a pretty swell kind of dame for... I'm sorry, Miss Evans does not answer. Thanks. Nobody home? No, Penny, and I don't like it. I think you better get going and... Wait a minute. Nicholas Carter's office. Nick Carter? Yeah? Who's this? If you want to see your girlfriend Patsy again, Carter, keep out of the Evans case. What do you mean? If you make another move to try and find out what happened to old man Evans or his daughter, you can kiss your girlfriend goodbye. It'll be crittance for her. But look, Nick, just because the Secret Six meets here doesn't mean that they'll be keeping Patsy a prisoner here. I know that, Penny, but we saw a couple of members of the gang go in here a few minutes ago, didn't we? Yeah, sure we did. Well, if I can't make them tell me what they've done with Patsy, my name isn't Nick Carter. Well, whatever you say, Nick. You say that man, they call the butlers upstairs in the first floor now? Yeah, he's writing in the back parlor. Then let's get into the basement, quick. Oh, but the door's locked, Nick. It's got a special Townsend lock on it. Well, that won't be the first door with a Townsend lock on it, that my little big clock in this opened. There. Quiet now. Wonder where this door goes. Oh, that leads into the basement of the house next door, Nick? Then I'm right. That's the basement of the house where that banker Winslow lives. He is in on this. Hey, Nick, sounds like somebody's coming down here. You're right, Penny. Here, quick, there's a storage closet. Get in here. I'll leave the door open to crack so we can watch him. You're not going to gag me again, are you? That must be Old Man Evans. What's that stuff you have there? Now, if you call that food, you can take it away. Penny, Penny, if one of us stands on the outside of that door, we can grab the butler when he comes out. But don't let him call out. Those other guys might hear him. No, whatever you say, Nick, like this. Go on, get out of here. Go on, get out. Here he comes. Now, good. All right, let's drag him into Evans' room here, quick. Shut the door. Okay. What's this? What are you doing? You're Mr. Evans, aren't you? Yes, yes, I am. I'm the detective, Nick Carter. Oh, thank heavens. You know where the other two men are that we saw come in here a little while ago? They're probably in the room where the gang meets at the end of this hallway, sir. Butler! Butler! That's Winslow. Quick, Mr. Evans. What does this butler's voice sound like? Very much like yours, except that he had a kind of dialect. No particular country. Just foreign. Butler! How does a butler address Winslow? Just seeing your Winslow, I think, sir. Yes, seeing your Winslow. You called me? I have called you several times. Where have you been? I've been trying to find something in the back of the storage closet. You wish something, senior? Yes. When the boys come in for the meeting tonight, tell them not to leave until I get here, no matter what time it is. You understand? But of course. They must not leave until you come. I will tell them. All right, then. Don't forget. Oh, that was amazing, Mr. Carter. It was almost a perfect imitation. All right, Penny. You better get this butler chapped tied up and gagged before it comes to. Well, whatever you're saying, Nick. Mr. Evans. Yes? You know why you were kidnapped and brought here? Why, yes, Mr. Carter. They want my fortune. I know they've kidnapped my daughter and substituted in her place a girl who looks enough like her to be her double. They plan to have her get possession of everything she can, sir. Then they forced you to write that check for $50,000, didn't they? Yes. But, Mr. Carter, do you know where my daughter is? I'm sorry, Mr. Evans. I don't. But I expect to know very soon. Come on, Penny. Let's get down the hall and let those thugs tell us where Patsy is. Whatever you're saying, Nick. Hold it, Penny. I'll turn the knob on the door very gently. Then when I give the word, we'll rush them just in case there may be more than two in there. Whatever you're saying, Nick. Easy now. Right. Get your hands up, all of you. What is it? Nice shooting, Nick. He should have known better than to pull a gun on you. All right, you get up. It's only your wrist that's hurt. Come on, get up. Now drop your guns on the floor. Come on, let's have them. What have you crooks done with my assistant Patsy? You heard what I said. What have you done with her? We don't know nothing about her. No? Well, maybe you don't know it, Mr. But when I get mad, I can be dirty and mean and somebody gets hurt. Now, where is she? I tell you, we don't know anything. Butler! It's Winslow again. Penny, give your gun on these two. They open their mouth, let them have it, and shoot to kill. Butler, why don't you answer me? Pardon, senior. We are having a conference. We did not expect you until later. You are coming in here? I just wanted to tell you that I don't expect to be here. Put him up, Mr. Winslow. I'll do the telling from now on. Why? What's the meaning of this, Mr. Cardi? You can't... Shut up. Where's Patsy? Where's who? You heard me. What have you done with my assistant Patsy? I don't know anything about... Where is she? Oh, no, don't... Where is she? Don't, don't break my arm. Stop! And the last time, where is she? Stop it, stop it, I'll tell you. Oh, my arm. Well? She's upstairs. Second floor back bedroom. Door locked, I suppose. No, I'll get her, Nick. I took the butler's keys away from him. Good boy, Penny. Make it snappy. I'll watch these two for a nickel thugs. Yeah, whatever you say, Nick. All right, Winslow. Get over against the wall with the rest of your cheap bums. And if you've hurt one single hair on Patsy's head, you'll be lucky if you live long enough for me to turn you over to the police. She's all right. We did nothing to her at all. Lucky for you. Tell me, Winslow, why'd you throw Evans off the ferry boat? Wouldn't it have been easier to have kidnapped him someplace else? I had the ferries watched for several days. And found at the time of night, in the bitter cold weather we've been having, a rear deck of the ferries almost always deserted. So we planned it that way. We had other plans ready in case that didn't work out. Oh, Nick, am I glad to see you. Oh, Patsy, are you all right? Anybody hurt you? No, Nick. They were a little rough, but they got as good as they gave me. Look at that black eye on the guy on the left. Good for you, Patsy. Ah, hey, Nick. After I got Patsy loose, I looked in some of the other rooms and I found this dame in the front room up there. Say she's Marion Blake. My name is Marion Blake. You're not Marion Blake. You're Alice Evans. No. No, I'm not Alice Evans. I'm Marion Blake. Aren't you saying that you're Marion Blake because you're afraid the gang will hurt your father if you admit you are really Alice Evans? What? Well, you're quite safe now, Miss Evans. Oh, Mr. Evans. Yes? Will you come in here, please? Yes, Mr. Carter. My father here and free. Yes, Miss Evans. Here he is. Oh, father. Oh, Alice, Alice, my dear. Oh, I'd be sorry about you. Oh, Penny, you'd better go get Riley. You'll find him waiting just around the corner. He can take over now. Tell me where you were. Mr. Carter, I can never thank you enough for what you've done. We owe you our lives, Alice and I. You don't owe me anything, Mr. Evans. Getting rats like these out of circulation gives me more satisfaction than anything else ever could. This is your room. You two wait here till I call you. Good morning, Miss Evans. Oh, good morning, Mr. Carter. Have you discovered anything about my father? I was about to ask you the same question. Have you heard from him? No, Mr. Carter. Nothing. Well, let me be the first to bring you the good news. Good news? Yes. Your father has been found. He's been found? Yes. He was kidnapped and imprisoned by some crooks who were trying to steal his fortune. Oh, my poor father. Where was he found? In a basement room where the gang was keeping him prisoner. Has he told you what happened to him? Oh, yes. He told us everything. Everything? By the way, Miss Evans, I brought a friend with me this morning. I thought you might like to meet her. May I ask her in? Yes. Yes, of course. Ellen, will you bring the young lady in? OK, thanks. Do you recognize this young lady, Miss Evans? All right, Mr. Carter. Can drop that Miss Evans stuff now. I see you know the whole story. Practically the whole story, yes. Oh, Alice, have you met the real Marion Blake? No, I haven't. My goodness, she does look like me, doesn't she? Yes, but she didn't fool me, dear. No, I suppose I was crazy to believe that I could fool a man who was as much in love with you as he is, Miss Evans. Resemblance is certainly close enough to fool almost anyone else, though. Well, she even sounds like me. Miss Blake, whose idea was it to substitute you for Alice Evans? My husband's. He was the head of a Chicago gang. Saw a picture in the paper, and the idea came to him. Her coming back from South America seemed to be the ideal setup for carrying out the scheme, so we came east to do it. We knew Winslow from a couple of jobs we did from Chicago. Didn't it occur to your husband that when you threw my father off the ferry, he might get pneumonia in the icy water and die? We didn't worry about that. We knew he'd live long enough for what we wanted. Why, you cold blooded... Oh, Alice, Alice, take it easy. But did you hear what she... That's all over with, dear. The police will take care of her now. I'm not usually bloodthirsty, but I hope she gets the electric chair. Well, the chair is hardly the sentence for attempted extortion, Alice. And by the time she gets out of jail, she'll no longer be young and pretty. And with the marks that prison will leave on her, she'll never again be able to double for you. This was another strange experience of Nick Carter, master detective, called the Substitute Bride, or Nick Carter, in the mystery of the night ferry. Another of the curious adventures of Nick Carter, which are brought to you regularly at this time by W.O.R. Mutual. And now, Nick, what strange adventure are you and Patsy going to tell us about next week? Next week, I want to tell you about a case that never seemed to be twice the same. What do you mean by that, Nick? Well, what Nick means is this. The case started out as a suicide, turned into a murder, and then disappeared entirely. And I disappeared with it. Well, all this sounds very screwy to me. Are you sure you're talking about next week's story? Nothing else but. But I'm afraid that if you want any more details, you'll have to listen to the story itself. And if you're wise, you won't miss it. It's one of our best. That it is. But for now, so long, folks. So long. So long to you both until next week. In the strange adventure you have just heard, Nick Carter was impersonated by Lon Clark, Patsy by Helen Schott. Original music was played by Lou White. The entire production was written and directed by Jacques McGregor. Next week, at the same time, listen to another curious experience of Nick Carter entitled... This story is a copyrighted feature of Street and Smith Publications Incorporated. The return of Nick Carter is produced in the studios of W.O.R. and is broadcast over most of these stations every Wednesday evening at 8.30 Eastern wartime. This is Mutual.