The Case of Jennie Brice

A vivid portrait of early‑20th‑century Pittsburgh emerges as an old‑world narrator returns to the flood‑prone Allegheny neighborhood she once called home. She weaves personal memories of railroad riots, a runaway marriage, and a modest boarding house that once hosted theatrical types, all while the river swells and threatens to swallow the streets once more. The sudden arrival of her niece Lida, bearing supplies in a skiff, pulls the narrator back to a long‑forgotten case involving Jennie Brice and her husband, a couple whose strained marriage and theatrical ambitions hint at deeper troubles beneath the waterlogged surface.

As the ice‑choked rivers surge, the narrator finds herself at the Ladley residence, warning the short, stubborn Mr. Ladley that the flood is rising fast. The tension between the practical need to move a piano and the couple’s preoccupied world sets the stage for a mystery that intertwines family loyalty, hidden resentments, and the relentless power of the river. Listeners are invited to step into a world where everyday chores become the backdrop for secrets waiting to surface.