ANNOUNCER:
"The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective," brought to you by Wildroot Cream-Oil Hair Tonic, the non-alcoholic hair tonic that contains lanolin. Wildroot Cream-Oil -- again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first!
MUSIC:
TAG
SFX:
PHONE RINGS ONCE ... RECEIVER UP
EFFIE:
(INTO PHONE) Sam Spade Detective Agency!
SPADE:
(FILTER) Uh, this is Sam "Blackleg" Spade, the third most dangerous gambler on the Barbary Coast.
EFFIE:
Oh, Sam -- not horses again!
SPADE:
(FILTER) Horses, women and the gaming tables, Effie -- the "diversions of the elite."
EFFIE:
Well, divert yourself with this, Sam. The phone company has sent the pink notice.
SPADE:
(FILTER) Ah ha! Pay it no mind, sweetheart. We are heeled! We have "hit the cashier's cage," "annexed the pot," "broken the bank," and we're "standing on velvet."
EFFIE:
Sam, are you sober?
SPADE:
(FILTER) Definitely velvet! Hm! Warm, too.
EFFIE:
Sam! From where are you calling from?
SPADE:
(FILTER) You're wrong, Effie -- it's a drugstore. Stay where you are! I'll be right down to deal out my report on "The Hot Hundred Grannnnnnnnd Caper"!
MUSIC:
TAG ... THEN BEHIND ANNOUNCER, OUT AT [X]
ANNOUNCER:
Dashiell Hammett, America's leading detective fiction writer and creator of Sam Spade, the hardboiled private eye, and William Spier, radio's outstanding producer-director of mystery and crime drama, join their talents to make your hair stand on end with "The Adventures of Sam Spade" -- presented by the makers of Wildroot Cream-Oil for the hair. [X]
It's smart to buy things the whole family can use, isn't it? That's why I say it's smart to buy Wildroot Cream-Oil Hair Tonic. To mom, to dad, to the children, Wildroot Cream-Oil is really a friend indeed! Non-alcoholic Wildroot Cream-Oil, with lanolin, grooms the hair neatly and naturally; relieves dryness; removes loose, ugly dandruff. I hope you have a big family-size bottle of Wildroot Cream-Oil in your home. Get Wildroot Cream-Oil Hair Tonic -- again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first!
MUSIC:
BEHIND ANNOUNCER--
ANNOUNCER:
And now, with Howard Duff starring as Spade, Wildroot brings to the air the greatest private detective of them all -- in "The Adventures of Sam Spade"!
MUSIC:
UP, FOR TAG
SFX:
ICE CUBES DROPPED, AND LIQUID POURED, INTO A GLASS
SPADE:
(NARRATES) Date -- September nineteen, Nineteen Forty-Eight. To Robbery Detail, San Francisco Police, attention Sergeant Walsh.
SFX: SPADE DRINKS ... SETS DOWN GLASS
SPADE:
(NARRATES) Uh, from Samuel Spade, License Number one-three-seven-five-nine-six. Dear Joe--
MUSIC:
BEHIND NARRATION--
SPADE:
(NARRATES) Here's the rundown on that hot hundred grand. It started pleasantly enough when my secretary, Miss Effie Perine -- cute little mouse -- eased into my private office, (SFX: DOOR CLOSES) closed the door behind her, and leaned back against it with that air of pained resignation which generally means there's a customer outside that she doesn't approve of, but that I'll see her anyway.
EFFIE:
(APPROACHES) It's up to you, Sam. She's very well dressed and I imagine she can afford you.
SPADE:
How do you, er, deduce that?
EFFIE:
Well, she dropped her purse. I didn't get time to count it all, but there was a hundred dollar bill on top.
SPADE:
Well, shoo her in, Effie!
EFFIE:
(UNCOMFORTABLE) Sam--?
SPADE:
(BEAT) Go ahead. Say it.
EFFIE:
Oh, I don't know, Sam. Sometimes-- Well, does just money--?
SPADE:
(REASSURING) No. No, that's one of the reasons I hire you. What's the matter with her?
EFFIE:
Nothing! That's just it, Sam! She's very good-looking--
SPADE:
Mm hm.
EFFIE:
--cultivated and very kind and considerate. And she seems sincerely troubled--
SPADE:
You mean her act is a little too good.
EFFIE:
I felt that, too, Sam.
SPADE:
Thanks, angel, I'll keep that in mind. Tell her to come in.
EFFIE:
All right, Sam.
SFX:
EFFIE'S FOOTSTEPS TO DOOR WHICH OPENS
EFFIE:
(OFF) Mr. Spade will see you, Mrs. Kilcourse.
LORRAINE:
(OFF) Thank you.
SFX:
LORRAINE'S FOOTSTEPS TO DOOR WHICH CLOSES
LORRAINE:
(CLOSER) Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Spade.
SPADE:
My pleasure. Won't you sit down?
LORRAINE:
Oh, thank you. I'm Lorraine Kilcourse, Mr. Spade. It's about my husband, Leonard Kilcourse.
SPADE:
(UNHAPPY) Husband? Oh.
LORRAINE:
We've only been married a short time. It was a quiet ceremony at the San Cedro Mission. Leonard didn't want to subject me to any publicity; the difference in our ages, you know?
SPADE:
You mean, you want me to keep it a secret?
LORRAINE:
Oh, no. No, except for the newspapers, of course. Naturally, all of Leonard's friends know.
SPADE:
Well, he doesn't have many, from what I've heard.
LORRAINE:
I thought it strange, too, that such a prominent man should have such a small circle of acquaintances. I met him only a short time before I married him. He's been very kind and absolutely devoted to me and I suppose I should feel ashamed of myself for coming to you. (BROKENLY, STARTING TO CRY) But there are so many things about him that are mysterious, I-- Sometimes, I-- I-- I can't seem to find my handkerchief...
SFX: LORRAINE RIFLES THROUGH PURSE
SPADE:
Here. Kleenex.
LORRAINE:
Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you.
SPADE:
I take it you're not a San Francisco girl.
LORRAINE:
No. No, I met him at a dude ranch.
SPADE:
Well, maybe I can clear up some of your mysteries for free. The reason your husband doesn't have many friends is because they keep dropping dead.
LORRAINE:
I don't understand you.
SPADE:
Well, forget it. (QUICKLY, LIGHTLY) He's a big public servant; he's built a lot of sidewalks; the streets of this city are paved with his good intentions; his name is on a thousand manhole covers. If the names of his former business associates land on headstones, it's nothing to me. I got my own racket. (BEAT) Well? Well, what?
LORRAINE:
(DELIBERATELY) I think my husband is paying blackmail to someone.
SPADE:
Ah ha. And upon what do you base your suspicions, Mrs. K?
LORRAINE:
It started about a month ago. He began withdrawing large sums from our joint account. First, it was ten thousand. Then - then twenty thousand. And, last week, fifty thousand.
SPADE:
Mm hm.
LORRAINE:
And this morning, he closed out the balance of the account -- one hundred thousand dollars.
SPADE:
Well, he's got it to spend, Mrs. Kilcourse.
LORRAINE:
Well, I - I won't pretend the money doesn't interest me, but-- What's behind it, Mr. Spade? Each time he withdraws these cash sums, he leaves the house without a word to me. And sometimes doesn't return until dawn. My husband is not fond of nightlife, Mr. Spade. Only a desperate situation could induce him to leave the house after dark.
SPADE:
Yes, so I've heard. They say that's how he kept his health as long as he has. All right, you want me to trail him, find out what he does with the money. Just one question. Why'd you pick me for the job?
LORRAINE:
(UNCONVINCING) I-- I-- Why, your reputation--
SPADE:
That's local. You say you're new in San Francisco.
LORRAINE:
Well, I - I do read the local papers. Your picture was in only two weeks ago.
SPADE:
Yeah, well, that caper didn't help my reputation.
LORRAINE:
I like your looks. A nice honest face. A man I could trust.
SPADE:
Well, I don't buy that.
LORRAINE:
I'm sentimental, too. Your picture reminded me of someone who is very dear to me. My brother. Of course, you're nothing like him, really, but - but you do look alike. I suppose that sounds like a silly woman's reason--
SPADE:
Yeah.
SFX:
SPADE OPENS DESK DRAWER, RUMMAGES FOR PAPER AND PEN
SPADE:
What's your address?
LORRAINE:
Well, I have a little place of my own out on Divisadero. The Balboa Apartments near Normandy Terrace?
SPADE:
Mm hmm.
LORRAINE:
You'd better keep in touch with me there. I don't want Leonard to know. The Kilcourse mansion is at Thirteen Sixteen Clarendon.
SPADE:
(TO HIMSELF, WRITING) Thirteen Sixteen--
LORRAINE:
He returns from his office around six in the evening. Do you have a car?
SPADE:
No. Will I need one?
LORRAINE:
Well, I don't know where he may go. Now, here are the keys to my car. (SFX: KEYS JANGLE) It's parked in front of the main entrance; a gray Plymouth. He won't recognize the car. It's my brother's. Now about your fee--
SPADE:
A hundred bucks an hour. If I need more, I'll leave you a note.
MUSIC:
TRANSITION .. THEN BEHIND NARRATION--
SPADE:
(NARRATES) I had an uneasy feeling I would need more. The last detective that tried to follow Leonard Kilcourse had hospital insurance; I don't. But I'm a gambler at heart, so I parked Lorraine's Plymouth across the street from the Kilcourse mansion and waited. At nine in the p. m., Mr. Kilcourse -- much, much too old for her -- came out the front door and flagged down a taxi. I made an illegal U-turn and followed.
MUSIC:
FILLS A PAUSE ... THEN BEHIND NARRATION--
SFX:
CAR SCREECHES TO A HALT ... CAR DOOR OPENS AND SHUTS ... FOOTSTEPS ON PAVEMENT
SPADE:
(NARRATES) The trail ended across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County. It was a country club-type building on top of a hill overlooking the bay. It did business under the name of "Ernie Nogales' Racket Club."
SFX:
DOOR OPENS ... NOISY CASINO BACKGROUND
SPADE:
(NARRATES) The racket had nothing to do with tennis. It came from two sources -- the moans and groans of the customers losing money at the roulette wheels and crap tables, and the glad-hand the management threw at my quarry as I followed him in.
NOGALES:
(FRIENDLY) Well, Mr. Kilcourse! Surprised to see you! Since when do you go out after dark?
KILCOURSE:
Well, I thought a little nightlife might agree with me, Nogales.
NOGALES:
(LAUGHS) That sounds likely, Mr. Kilcourse! If I didn't know you better, I'd think you was afraid to go out nights. (LAUGHS)
KILCOURSE:
(LAUGHS) Well now, I was thinking of buying this place to retire to.
NOGALES:
Ah?
KILCOURSE:
But I figure it'd be cheaper to win it at your roulette table. What's your limit here?
NOGALES:
Ten thousand! But for you -- wide open; the sky!
KILCOURSE:
A hot hundred grand for a starter?
NOGALES:
(CHUCKLES) Well, anytime they catch you with hot money, Mr. Kilcourse--! (LAUGHS) Come over to the cashier. I sell you the chips myself.
MUSIC:
TAG ... THEN BEHIND NARRATION--
SPADE:
(NARRATES) I didn't have to bother making myself inconspicuous. Everybody in the joint stopped playing to watch Kilcourse while he shoved his hundred grand roll through the cashier's window and scooped up four stacks of thousand buck chips.
SFX:
CASINO CROWD AND CLICK OF CHIPS DURING ABOVE ... THEN IN BG
JOE:
Make your bets, please! Make your bets!
KILCOURSE:
All right, you -- spin that wheel.
JOE:
Huh? How much you got there?
KILCOURSE:
Twenty-five grand. Any objections?
JOE:
Is that okay, Mr. Nogales?
NOGALES:
Er, spin it, Joe. I'm covering for the table personally.
JOE:
Okay, sir. (TO CROWD) Around and 'round the little ball goes--
SFX:
BALL SPINS ON ROULETTE WHEEL ... THEN DROPS INTO POCKET
JOE:
(TO CROWD) Fifteen pays! Fifteen and the red!
SFX:
CROWD REACTS
NOGALES:
(LAUGHS) Maybe next time, Mr. Kilcourse. Why don't you double up? Play the red and the black. It's safer.
KILCOURSE:
I'll stay with the numbers. (TO JOE) Fifty-thousand on fifteen!
SFX:
CHIPS PLACED DOWN HARD ON TABLE ... CROWD GASPS
KILCOURSE:
There! Spin it!
NOGALES:
It's okay, Joe. I'm still covering.
JOE:
Well, it's your money, Mr. Nogales.
SFX:
BALL SPINS ON ROULETTE WHEEL ... THEN DROPS INTO POCKET
JOE:
(TO CROWD) Number four pays! Number four and the red again!
SFX:
CROWD REACTS
KILCOURSE:
Well, twenty-five grand more on fifteen!
SFX:
CHIPS PLACED DOWN HARD ON TABLE
NOGALES:
Ah, look, Mr. Kilcourse. Go on, enjoy yourself; take it off your income tax; but, please, spend those-- Spread them out a little, those chips, huh? Looks bad for the house.
KILCOURSE:
What kind of a joint is this? Can't you cover the bets?
NOGALES:
Okay, Joe. He ask for it.
JOE:
Okay, sir.
SFX:
BALL SPINS ON ROULETTE WHEEL
MUSIC:
WHIRLING TRANSITION ... THEN BEHIND NARRATION--
SPADE:
(NARRATES) I didn't wait to see where the little ball went on the last spin of the wheel. I would've made a side bet with any taker that Kilcourse wanted to lose that hundred grand. I would also have made book he knew I was following him. As I left the table and walked out of the club, I braced myself for what usually comes next. There would either be a dead body in the car or somebody would crease my noggin with a sap! But nothing happened. (SFX: CAR DOOR OPENS) I switched on the headlights and stood in the glare of 'em for fully a minute, but nobody even shot at me! I flushed the shrubbery. No gunman! Checked the ignition wires. No booby traps! Driving back to town, I wracked my brain for some way to bring them out into the open. I felt like a man with his life savings all on one number waiting for the wheel to stop spinning, which wasn't far from the truth. Not much of a cliffhanger, but the best we could do this week.
MUSIC:
UP, TO FILL A PAUSE ... THEN BEHIND ANNOUNCER--
ANNOUNCER:
The makers of Wildroot Cream-Oil are presenting the weekly Sunday adventure of Dashiell Hammett's famous private detective, Sam Spade.
MUSIC:
UP, FOR A FINISH
ANNOUNCER:
Now here's important news on good grooming. If you want the well-groomed look that helps you get ahead -- socially and on the job -- listen. Recently, thousands of people from coast to coast who bought Wildroot Cream-Oil for the first time were asked, "How does Wildroot Cream-Oil compare with the hair tonic you previously used?" The results were amazing! Better than four out of five who replied said they preferred Wildroot Cream-Oil. Remember, non-alcoholic Wildroot Cream-Oil contains lanolin. It grooms the hair naturally, relieves dryness and removes loose, ugly dandruff. So, if you want your hair to be more attractive than ever before, get the generous new twenty-five-cent size of Wildroot Cream-Oil -- America's leading hair tonic -- on sale at all drug and toilet goods counters. It's also available in larger economy bottles and the handy new tube! Get Wildroot Cream-Oil -- again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first! By
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MUSIC:
TAG ... THEN BEHIND--
ANNOUNCER:
And now back to "The Hot Hundred Grand Caper" -- tonight's adventure with Sam Spade!
MUSIC:
UP, FOR TAG
SFX:
DOOR BUZZER
SPADE:
(WHISTLES AS HE WAITS)
SFX:
APARTMENT DOOR OPENS
TOMMY:
Yeah?
SPADE:
Er, this Mrs. Kilcourse's apartment?
TOMMY:
Yeah.
SPADE:
She here?
TOMMY:
Yeah.
SPADE:
Well, uh-- Can I come in?
TOMMY:
Yeah.
SFX:
LORRAINE'S APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS DURING FOLLOWING--
LORRAINE:
(CALLS, FROM OFF) Tommy?
TOMMY:
(TO LORRAINE) Yeah?
LORRAINE:
(CALLS, FROM OFF) Who is that? Mr. Spade?
SPADE:
(MIMICS TOMMY) Yeah.
SFX:
APARTMENT DOOR CLOSES ... LORRAINE'S FOOTSTEPS OUT BEHIND--
LORRAINE:
(CLOSER) Oh, this is the detective I was telling you about Tommy -- remember?
TOMMY:
Yeah.
LORRAINE:
The one who looks so much like you?
TOMMY:
Yeah.
SPADE:
(DEADPAN) No.
LORRAINE:
(TO SPADE) Oh, excuse me, this is my brother Tommy Lane.
SPADE:
(UNCONSCIOUSLY MIMICS TOMMY) Yeah. (RECOVERS) I mean, er--
LORRAINE:
Tommy, won't you run down to the corner and buy me some cigarettes for about twenty minutes? I have something to talk over with Mr. Spade.
TOMMY:
Y-e-a-h.
SFX:
TOMMY'S FOOTSTEPS EXIT THROUGH APARTMENT DOOR WHICH OPENS AND CLOSES
SPADE:
(DRY) Nice boy, your brother. Small vocabulary, but big feet.
LORRAINE:
Well, he - he's shy. Now, what did you find out about Mr. Ki-- My husband, Mr. Spade?
SPADE:
He, er, dropped the hundred grand in a gambling joint -- Ernie Nogales' Racket Club. You know it?
LORRAINE:
No, but I know Ernie Nogales. I knew him in Reno, before I met Leonard. He lost his license there for running a crooked wheel.
SPADE:
The way Kilcourse was playing tonight, that wheel didn't have to be crooked. He was trying to lose that hundred grand.
LORRAINE:
But why?! Why would he do thing a like that?
SPADE:
One of two reasons. Either he's payin' off to Nogales or he's payin' off to somebody else and Nogales is the go-between.
LORRAINE:
Well, I don't believe it. Ernie is a crooked gambler, but he doesn't touch blackmail.
SPADE:
And your husband isn't stupid enough to drop a hundred grand in three turns of a wheel. Anyway, I'm not tangling with him and/or the Ernie Nogales mob for a hundred bucks of your money or anybody else's.
SFX:
SPADE SLAPS DOWN BILLS
SPADE:
Here, take it.
LORRAINE:
Well, but--
SPADE:
And here are your car keys.
SFX:
SPADE DROPS KEYS ON TABLE
LORRAINE:
No, no, wait, please! You can't desert me now!
SPADE:
Why not?
LORRAINE:
Well, I haven't told you everything. I'd hoped I wouldn't have to.
SPADE:
About your brother?
LORRAINE:
How did you know?
SPADE:
The only place you get a green suntan is in a pokey.
LORRAINE:
Oh.
SPADE:
Besides, he acts kind o' stir crazy. Spent a little time in solitary, didn't he?
LORRAINE:
He won't talk about it. But that's it, Sam. That's why Leonard is paying that blackmail money to Nogales.
SPADE:
You just said Nogales wouldn't touch blackmail. Any other corrections you'd like to make in your copy before we proceed?
LORRAINE:
Yes. (SIGHS) Well, I might as well tell you everything.
SPADE:
Why not?
LORRAINE:
I knew, when I came to you this morning that my husband was paying this money to Nogales. I knew, because I asked him to.
SPADE:
You and Ernie Nogales are working together?
LORRAINE:
I'm not that rotten.
SPADE:
I didn't say you were, but you're a rotten liar. There's that much in your favor.
LORRAINE:
But I'm telling the truth now, Sam. You must believe me. Everything that has happened is my fault. I persuaded Nogales to give my brother a job in his place in Reno.
SPADE:
Mm hmm.
LORRAINE:
They quarreled and when he got closed down, he - he blamed Tommy! He swore he'd kill him when he got out of prison. That's why I begged my husband to pay him -- to save Tommy's life.
SPADE:
Who did rat on Nogales about that crooked wheel in Reno?
LORRAINE:
I did. That's why I feel responsible. Leonard is so fine, so - so generous. But I can't let him go on paying for my mistake.
SPADE:
Yeah. Like you said, he's gonna run out o' money.
LORRAINE:
Look at me, Sam. Do I look like the kind of a woman to whom money means everything in the world?
SPADE:
No, but you're lookin' at me, not at Kilcourse.
LORRAINE:
(EXHALES) You're laughing at me. Oh, I know what you think. Perhaps I did make a mistake in marrying Leonard, but he was so kind, so considerate. Like my father.
SPADE:
Everybody reminds you of your relatives.
LORRAINE:
You don't believe my story?
SPADE:
(CHUCKLES) Well, since you asked--
LORRAINE:
Well, all right then, here's the truth. I'm really Jack the Ripper's granddaughter. My parents were terribly wealthy. I harpooned my mother in her Beverly Hills swimming pool, set fire to my father with a fifty-thousand-dollar negotiable bond, and eloped with John Wilkes Booth. That brings us up to Eighteen Sixty-Five. Shall I go on?
SPADE:
Don't stop; it's great.
LORRAINE:
(UPSET) Oh, get out of here! Get out of here and leave me alone!
SPADE:
After you've told me all your secrets? I'm not that rotten.
LORRAINE:
You won't help me. You never intended to. Why go on torturing me?
SPADE:
Aw, now stop it. (HALFHEARTED) Please - please, I believe ya; I believe all your stories. Now, er, what is my next smart move?
LORRAINE:
(LEVEL) Sam -- the only way to stop Ernie Nogales is to prove that he's running a crooked wheel. Then he'd pay back all that blackmail money and - and he wouldn't dare lay a hand on Tommy.
SPADE:
Well, that's gonna be hard to prove, and expensive.
LORRAINE:
Oh, but--
SPADE:
I'll have to lose a little on that wheel before I can figure the way it's rigged. How much can you invest?
LORRAINE:
Well, I - I have about a thousand dollars of my own.
SPADE:
With you?
LORRAINE:
Yes!
SFX:
LORRAINE OPENS PURSE, TAKES OUT BILLS, HANDS THEM OVER
LORRAINE:
Here, you take it.
SFX:
SPADE RIFLES THROUGH BILLS
SPADE:
Hmm. Smells nice.
LORRAINE:
(BEAT, LOW) Sam--?
SPADE:
Yeah?
LORRAINE:
Sam, after all this is over, and after I've put things to right with Leonard-- I should've told him before this, but I owed him so much, I-- Oh, Sam. I'm so glad it's you.
SPADE:
Yeah. Me, too, angel.
LORRAINE:
(SIGHS, BREATHY) Go now, darling ---- before I beg you not to.
SPADE:
What time does that joint close?
LORRAINE:
Well, it runs all night, I think.
SPADE:
Good. Let's stay up late and raid the icebox.
MUSIC:
TRANSITION ... THEN BEHIND NARRATION--
SPADE:
(NARRATES) Around two in the a. m., when I low-geared the Plymouth up the long, steep driveway to Ernie Nogales' Racket Club, backed into the parking space nearest the road, with the car headed downhill for a quick getaway -- just in case -- and I went in.
SFX:
SPADE'S FOOTSTEPS IN ... CASINO BACKGROUND
SPADE:
(NARRATES) The joint was still going full blast. I bought five hundred bucks worth of chips, swaggered over to the table where Kilcourse had dropped his hundred grand and nonchalantly flipped a blue chip onto the red.
SFX:
CHIPS FLIPPED
JOE:
(TO CROWD) Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen! Make your game! Okay, that's all! Around and 'round the little ball goes--
SFX:
BALL SPINS ON ROULETTE WHEEL
SPADE:
(NARRATES) I didn't look to see where the little ball went. Most of the money was on red, so it was bound to turn up black.
SFX:
BALL DROPS INTO POCKET ... CROWD REACTS
JOE:
(TO CROWD) Red pays!
SPADE:
(DISBELIEF, TO HIMSELF) What?
JOE:
(TO CROWD) Number fifteen! Place your bets, please! Make your game, ladies and gentlemen! Around and 'round it goes--
SFX:
BALL SPINS ON ROULETTE WHEEL
MUSIC:
BEHIND NARRATION--
SPADE:
(NARRATES) The chips were spread around more the next turn, so I stacked a hundred at the bottom of the "one to thirty-four" column. With a crooked wheel, my hundred made it the best bet to lose.
SFX:
BALL DROPS INTO POCKET
JOE:
(TO CROWD) Nineteen and the red wins again!
SPADE:
(PUZZLED, TO HIMSELF) Hey--
SFX:
CROWD REACTS
SFX:
BALL SPINS ON ROULETTE WHEEL ... CASINO BACKGROUND IN AGREEMENT WITH FOLLOWING--
MUSIC:
BEHIND NARRATION--
SPADE:
(NARRATES) I plunked five hundred down on number five and raked in seventeen thousand, five hundred! I left my original bet on the table. When the little ball fell into the pocket, I was thirty-five thousand bucks to the good from my point of view, but not from my client's. I doubled my bet and looked apprehensively around. There were no surly characters edging up behind me. In fact, the only surly character in sight was Ernie Nogales, and he looked happy! That didn't make much sense. When my bankroll got to a hundred and five thousand, I played a hunch. I threw five grand of it back on the table -- and lost it. (BEAT) That made a kind of sense. I cashed in the rest of my chips and squeezed the hundred grand, U. S. currency, into my inside pocket. If anybody aimed for my heart, it was thick enough to stop the slug, which was some comfort. But what I saw when I walked out to the parking lot was no comfort at all.
MUSIC:
AN ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND NARRATION--
SFX:
SPADE'S FOOTSTEPS ON PAVEMENT
SPADE:
(NARRATES) I'd gotten just a glimpse of it through some trees. A sedan backed into a driveway halfway down the hill. It was blacked out except for five glowing cigar ends that showed through the windows. I could think of only one reason for five cigar smokers to be parked in that particular spot at that particular moment. The Plymouth was where I had parked it, pointing straight down the hill.
SFX:
CAR DOOR OPENS AND SLAMS SHUT
SPADE:
(NARRATES) I slammed the door, but didn't get in. Then I listened.
SFX:
DISTANT CAR ENGINE STARTS
SPADE:
(NARRATES) The car down the hill was getting ready, too. I cracked the door of the Plymouth wide enough to get my arm inside and pressed the starter with the heel of my hand.
SFX:
NEARBY CAR ENGINE STARTS
SPADE:
(NARRATES) I switched on the lights. Pushed the clutch with my left hand. Used my right to shift it into "low." Then I pulled the hand throttle out all the way and let it go.
SFX:
NEARBY CAR DOOR SHUTS AS THE VEHICLE PULLS AWAY ... BRIEF BURST OF MACHINE GUN FIRE, OFF ... SPADE'S CAR CRASHES, OFF
MUSIC:
BIG ACCENT ... THEN OUT
SFX:
CASINO BACKGROUND ... SPADE'S HURRIED FOOTSTEPS TO NOGALES' OFFICE DOOR WHICH OPENS ... THEN SHUTS, CUTTING OFF CASINO BACKGROUND
NOGALES:
What's the big idea busting into my office?
SPADE:
We're gonna have a talk, Nogales.
NOGALES:
(UNAFRAID) Please, don't wave that heater at me. Makes me nervous. I don't like guns.
SPADE:
I don't either. That's why I'm here. Put your hands on top of the desk and keep 'em there.
NOGALES:
All right. Give me back that roll. I give you clean money for it. It was a gamble; so I lost. Can you blame me?
SPADE:
Where'd you get this money?
NOGALES:
I buy it. Fifty cents on the dollar. I don't ask where it came from, but I read the papers. I figure it was that shipyard payroll job a few days back. Like it just fell in my lap! I figure I'd make fifty grand instead of Kilcourse's five. I guess that was dirty trick you just now have served on me, huh?
SPADE:
I got news for you, Nogales. I didn't know this money was hot and I am not Tommy Lane.
NOGALES:
No? Then what--?
SPADE:
Private dick. Tommy's sister hired me to take the fall for him. Look, I've got most of the caper. Kilcourse wanted to pay Tommy a hundred grand. You rigged the wheel so Kilcourse would lose it one night and Tommy would win it back the next night. Now, er, what was Kilcourse payin' him off for?
NOGALES:
No caper. Legitimate. He was sent up for bribing a public official.
SPADE:
You mean he was the payoff man for Kilcourse's contracting firm?
NOGALES:
Sure. Legitimate business. The grand jury went out after Kilcourse. Tommy took the rap, that's all. For a price.
SPADE:
Yeah. A hundred grand. Thanks, Nogales, that's all I needed.
SFX:
OFFICE DOOR OPENS ... LORRAINE'S HURRIED FOOTSTEPS IN
LORRAINE:
(BREATHLESS) Oh, Sam! I was afraid I might be too late.
SPADE:
You are, sweetheart.
LORRAINE:
Oh, I have so many things to explain. Where can we talk?
SPADE:
Right in here.
LORRAINE:
But-- Who's this man?
SPADE:
Why, that's your old sweetie from Reno, Ernie Nogales, remember?
NOGALES:
What's the matter with you two? You crazy?
LORRAINE:
Oh, Sam, I should have told you the truth from the beginning.
SPADE:
Check. The Nogales yarn I can understand, but why did you tell me you were Kilcourse's wife?
LORRAINE:
I was desperate. I had to say something! It was the only explanation I could think of for my interest in this case without telling the truth.
SPADE:
But you were making a pigeon out of me.
LORRAINE:
I don't know about such things, Sam. All I know is I'm here in time to warn you! You mustn't walk out of here with that money.
NOGALES:
Listen, you two--
LORRAINE:
They may kill you to get it back.
SPADE:
They already did. They're combing the wreckage of that car right now looking for my body.
LORRAINE:
(GASPS) Then Tommy was right. They did mean to kill him.
SPADE:
How'd he get the rumble?
LORRAINE:
While he was in prison, from another man that Kilcourse framed. He was in for life so it was safe for him to talk.
NOGALES:
Hey, you!
SPADE:
Yeah, Nogales?
NOGALES:
That car that just drove up; I think that's Mr. Kilcourse.
LORRAINE:
(GASPS) Oh, I--
SFX:
LORRAINE'S FOOTSTEPS TRY TO HURRY OFF, BUT SPADE GRABS HER ... THEY STRUGGLE
SPADE:
Here, what's your hurry?
LORRAINE:
(WITH EFFORT) Oh, let me go! Let me go!
SPADE:
Come on, what's your hurry?
LORRAINE:
(QUICKLY) Tommy's out there in that cab! I've got to warn him!
SPADE:
Or tip off Kilcourse. Which is it?
LORRAINE:
(DESPERATE) No! Sam, you've got to believe me!
SPADE:
Sit down!
SFX:
SPADE SHOVES LORRAINE ROUGHLY INTO CHAIR ... SHE STRUGGLES
SPADE:
Stop that!
NOGALES:
You two have fun. I'm getting out of here.
SFX:
NOGALES' FOOTSTEPS EXIT BEHIND--
SPADE:
(TO NOGALES) Go ahead. (TO LORRAINE) Now, listen, "Sweet Lorraine," you may as well save your breath for those explanations; you're stayin' right here until the caper's all wrapped up.
LORRAINE:
(WHISPERS, SCARED) Here he comes! You have a gun, Sam?
SPADE:
Yeah.
LORRAINE:
Well, you'd better have it ready.
SPADE:
(NEGATIVE) Mm mm.
LORRAINE:
But, Sam--
SFX:
KILCOURSE'S FOOTSTEPS IN
KILCOURSE:
(ANGRY) Where's Nogales? I want to see him.
SPADE:
(FEIGNS OBSEQUIOUSNESS) He was called out of town, sir. I'm in charge. You Mr. Kilcourse?
KILCOURSE:
That's right. I want to know why you people have been interfering with my business! It might interest you to know that this building site's on an old Spanish land grant. Title's very shaky. I'll run an eight-lane highway straight through the middle of it and turn the rest of it into a game preserve! Huh! That's what I do to people who double-cross me.
SPADE:
I tried to tell Mr. Nogales that, sir. He wouldn't listen to me. He tipped Tommy off for a split of the hundred grand, but I knew, sooner or later, we'd have to answer to you, Mr. Kilcourse.
KILCOURSE:
(TAKEN ABACK) Oh? What's that?
SPADE:
Here's your hundred grand, sir.
SFX:
SPADE SLAPS CASH ON DESK
SPADE:
Count it.
LORRAINE:
(WHISPERS, HORRIFIED) Sam--
KILCOURSE:
(FAVORABLY IMPRESSED) Well! Well, well, well. What's your name, son?
SPADE:
Sam Spade, sir.
KILCOURSE:
Well, I'm glad to meet an honest lad! Well, come along. You, too, young lady; we'll all walk out together.
SFX:
THEIR FOOTSTEPS IN AGREEMENT WITH FOLLOWING--
LORRAINE:
(WHISPERS) Sam, what are you--?
SPADE:
(WHISPERS) Shut up, shut up.
KILCOURSE:
Spade, huh?
SPADE:
Yes, sir! I'm a private detective, but I'm ambitious.
SFX:
THEY EXIT CASINO THROUGH DOOR WHICH OPENS AND CLOSES
KILCOURSE:
Mmm! Politics?
SPADE:
Yes, sir.
KILCOURSE:
Well, we'll run you for assembly! In the meantime, I believe there's an opening in one of the public services. Garbage Disposal. Executive end, of course! Where the devil is that man with my car?
SFX:
CAR PULLS UP ... ENGINE RUNS IN BG
KILCOURSE:
Oh, there he is! (MOVING OFF, TO SPADE) You drop around to my office in the morning!
SPADE:
Thank you and good night, Mr. Kilcourse!
KILCOURSE:
(OFF) Drive on, Horace! Back to the city!
SFX:
CAR DOOR SLAMS ... CAR PULLS AWAY BEHIND--
LORRAINE:
Oh, Sam! How could you?
SPADE:
(ABSENTLY) Hm?
LORRAINE:
All those lies and - and just handing over the money like that! It wasn't yours!
SPADE:
It wasn't Tommy's either, sweetheart. (SFX: CAR DOOR OPENS) Get in.
LORRAINE:
Well-- Tommy! Are you all right?
TOMMY:
Yeah.
SPADE:
Drive us across the bridge, Tommy, will ya?
TOMMY:
Yeah.
SFX:
CAR ENGINE STARTS
LORRAINE:
Tommy--?
TOMMY:
(BEAT) Yeah?
LORRAINE:
(CAREFULLY) Tommy, I'm afraid we'll have to do without the money.
TOMMY:
Yeah?
LORRAINE:
Sam gave it to Mr. Kilcourse.
TOMMY:
(UNHAPPY) Yeah?
LORRAINE:
(QUICKLY) Now, don't get excited, Tommy. I'm sure Sam had a reason. Didn't you, Sam?
SPADE:
(UNCONSCIOUSLY MIMICS TOMMY) Yeah. (RECOVERS) I mean, that was marked money from a payroll job.
LORRAINE:
(REALIZES) Ohhh. Then it won't do him any good?
SPADE:
It'll send him up for a good long stretch if the eyewitness story that goes along with it is good enough -- and you're just the girl to tell it, sweetheart! (TO TOMMY) Am I right, Tommy?
TOMMY:
(PLEASED) Y-y-yeah.
MUSIC:
BRIEF TRANSITION
SPADE:
(FINISHES DICTATION) Uh, period. End of report.
EFFIE:
Already? But Sam--?
SPADE:
Yeah?
EFFIE:
What happened? Who were the five men in the car? The ones who shot at that Plymouth in the mistaken belief that you were in it?
SPADE:
Their names are of little account, Effie. Suffice it to say that Kilcourse pointed his pudgy finger at them in the hopes of keeping the charge of attempted murder out of his indictment. But I was too clever. I identified them.
EFFIE:
But, Sam, you didn't see anything but their cigars glowing in the darkness.
SPADE:
(LIGHTLY) Have you never heard of Sherlock Holmes' monograph on the forty-nine varieties of tobacco ash, you fool?
EFFIE:
Oh. But, Sam, Sherlock Holmes is only the SEGMENT of someone's imagination. He's a fic-TISH-onal detective!
SPADE:
Well?
EFFIE:
You mean--? (ABRUPTLY) Oh, Sam, you're tired.
SPADE:
(SIMPLY) Yes, I am.
EFFIE:
It's affected your mind, winning all that money. Now, you just sit here and rest.
SPADE:
All right.
EFFIE:
Think of the snowy mountaintops and blue skies.
SPADE:
(YAWNS) Mmm.
EFFIE:
(MOVING OFF) I'll just go and type this up.
SPADE:
(TO HIMSELF) Snowy mountaintops. Winter sports, yet!
SFX:
TRANSITIONAL PAUSE
ANNOUNCER:
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MUSIC:
TRANSITION
SFX:
EFFIE'S FOOTSTEPS APPROACH
EFFIE:
Well, here it is, Sam. Not that it made any difference, but how did you guess that she wasn't Mrs. Kilcourse?
SPADE:
Simple. Kilcourse didn't recognize her.
EFFIE:
But, Sam, that was after you denounced her.
SPADE:
I did no such thing.
EFFIE:
From the report, Sam, in black and white; quote -- "Why did you tell me you were Kilcourse's wife?" -- unquote! At that point, you assumed that she was not Mrs. Leonard Kilcourse.
SPADE:
I did not! I merely wondered why she had told me.
EFFIE:
Well, with all the lies she told, you might have assumed anything she said was totally devoid of truth.
SPADE:
And I did, sweetheart, I did.
EFFIE:
Ohhh! Oh, well, that's a relief! I was afraid for awhile she'd taken you in.
SPADE:
What's that got to do with the truth?
EFFIE:
(GIVES UP) Ohh. Good night, Sam.
SPADE:
(WARMLY) Good night, sweetheart.
MUSIC:
CURTAIN
ANNOUNCER:
"The Adventures of Sam Spade," Dashiell Hammett's famous private detective, are produced and directed by William Spier. Sam Spade is played by Howard Duff. Lurene Tuttle is Effie. Sadie Thompson appeared as Lorraine Kilcourse.
MUSIC:
ORCHESTRAL VERSION OF 1931 POP SONG "GOODNIGHT, SWEETHEART" BEHIND ANNOUNCER--
ANNOUNCER:
"The Adventures of Sam Spade" are written for radio by Bob Tallman and Gil Doud. Musical direction by Lud Gluskin, score composed by René Garriguenc. Join us again next Sunday when author Dashiell Hammett and producer William Spier join forces for another adventure with Sam Spade, brought to you by Wildroot Cream-Oil -- again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first! This is Dick Joy reminding you to--
MUSIC:
GUITAR ... WILDROOT CREAM OIL JINGLE ... TO THE TUNE OF "THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE UPON YOU"
SINGERS:
Get Wildroot Cream-Oil, Charlie.
It keeps your hair in trim!
You see, it's non-alcoholic, Charlie;
It's made with soothin' lanolin!
You better get Wildroot Cream-Oil, Charlie.
Start using it today!
You'll find that you will have a tough time, Charlie,
Keepin' all the gals away!
VOICE:
(SPOKEN) Hiya, Baldy!
SINGERS:
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MUSIC:
JINGLE ENDS
ANNOUNCER:
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
MUSIC:
ORCHESTRAL VERSION OF "GOODNIGHT, SWEETHEART" TILL END