Sam Spade - The Bouncing Betty Caper

0:00The adventurers of Sam Spade detected. Very funny. Certainly took you along enough. Oh thank you, Sam. Well, do you like them? Oh, I guess so. Your own hair, I trust. Oh, yes, I'm going to brush out. You'll never know anything happened. Whenever you're ready, Curly. Oh, gee, you like it that well? Yeah, very cute. Yeah. To business. To Detective Lieutenant Dundee, homicide detail, San Francisco Police from Samuel Spade, licensed number 17596, subject to bouncing Betty Caper. Yeah, Dundee. It all began on a Wednesday. My secretary, Miss Effie Perrine, tipped on into my office and laid an engraved calling card in a desk in front of me.

1:01The name on it was Randall Carruthas. She said he looked like money, so I said show her in. Or him in. She did. Good morning, sir. Do you wish the morning paper? Thanks, I've read it. Dear me. It's a matter. This ash tray, sir. Have you a silent button? I don't even have a noisy one. In all my years of service, I've been my constant endeavor to keep things neat and tidy, down to the smallest detail. I see. Well, if it bothers you, just dump those butts into the waste batches. Very well, sir. If you will pardon the presumptions, you could use a well-trained servant in this establishment. Waste paper baskets, clean and emptied all time. Never allow refuse to accumulate. That's not refuse. That's this month's build. It's so I noticed, sir. I also noticed that you have not opened them. From this I conclude that your services are immediately available. And I conclude that in spite of your glad rags and fancy hand, who you are, somebody's butler.

2:01Oh, that is correct, sir. I am first butler in the household of Dr. Mark McGraw. First. Bleak clip is the name of the estate. It's near the village of Squid Beach, some 50 miles in the southerly direction on the Pacific coast. You know, I think I'm going to like you as a client, Mr. Carothers. I mean, it's refreshing to get a few accurate facts without you always say priming the pun. Oh, thank you, sir. You know what? To continue, not counting the staff, there is aided Bleak clip, three persons. Dr. McGraw, master of the house, since the death of his wife. His step-son, Mr. Antony McGraw, of whom more later. And Mr. Antony's sister, Miss Cassie. It is unheard the half that I've come to you, sir. What is her problem, Mr. Carothers? The correct form of the dress is Carothers. So, not Mr. Carothers. Check that out. Yes, sir. Now, estimates, Carothers' problem, sir. Someone is attempting to murder her. Specifically, she has, upon several occasions, been shot at from ambush twice, as awakened in the night to feel the hands of an assailant

3:01closing about her throat. And during the yesterday, she narrowly escaped death when her motorcar went out of control, owing to some blackout tempering with a steering mechanism and upon numerous other occasions. That's enough. You have convinced me that she indeed has a problem. What of a local police think? No one has been to the police, sir. Why not? It's a delicate situation, sir. Miss Cassie's brother, Mr. Tony, is undergoing treatment for nervous disorders. The family did not wish to place him in an institution, and since Dr. McGraw, his stepfather, is a psychiatrist, he is allowed to remain at home. I see. He's fleth. What do I, sir, Antony? Well, sir, if a reputable gentleman, such as yourself, where to come to Bleak Lift, and witness these persistent attempts upon that girl's life, perhaps they could be forced to put the boy away very belonged. It's possible. I'm willing to try for money. Oh, splendid, sir, splendid. I took the liberty of drawing in your favor, a draft upon the First National Bank of Squid Bay,

4:02one week's remuneration in advance of your services to the Bleak Lift at State, in the capacity of chauffeur. Guys, chauffeur? Yes, sir. I thought that might be a capital disguise. Have you a better suggestion, sir? Well, uh... Oh, no, that's okay. Let's check. Yes, sir. At 200 bucks. It's a pretty big weekly salary for a chauffeur, isn't it? Well, you will be allowed to shop for the vegetables, sir. Your cot has been added in. I told him I didn't know one vegetable from another that I was a lousy driver, and in more time than it takes to tell, I was installed at Bleak Lift in a room above the garage and told him to wait there until summer. I put on my pro-grey uniform, with the brass buttons and leather putties, looked in the mirror and decided I had missed my calling, but not by much. Nothing happened for nearly an hour, and then I got my first buzz.

5:02Yeah, I mean, garage. Finish the car quickly. That ain't entrance. I'm running. I haven't locked in the little room, but I'm breaking up. Okay, okay. Uh, yes, ma'am. Let me see. It's a door open. What am I doing? Why didn't you have the door open? All right. I'm sorry, miss. Look at going, please. Uh, darn it, miss. Where's the spark on this? What the matter with it? Well, it's a... What about the house? You know what I'm saying? All right. He's got the meek living in public in this door. Well, I'm fine. No! No! Stop it! Stop it! I'm hurting it. All right. Put it down, too. Put it down. Come on. Give it to me. No, it's going home. Don't. I say, who are you? Haven't you been instructed not to disturb my patient? I'm sorry. I'm no here. When I saw him coming at Miss McGraw, with that meek cleaver, I naturally thought of it. Oh, well.

6:02No harm done. Come along, Coach. Come along now. Come along, boy. We'll have a nice long trip. And what shall I do with it? Oh, we'll put it back in it. You all right? Oh. Oh, sure. I should be used to it by now. By the way, you're new here, aren't you? What's your name? Sam. Sam? That's nice. Turn to the left outside the gate, Sam. Drive straight out to the shore road. Well, if I can just... Hey, I just turned that little key. Look, Mom, I'm driving. I adjusted the rear view mirror so that it showed more of her and less of the rear view. A mile from the house, she ordered me to stop, moved up to the front seat with me, and asked me to drive on. Other time we got to the shore road, she was driving, and I was resting my head on her shoulder.

7:04Where are we going? I've got a little hideaway down the coast, right on the beach, the foot of a tall cliff. There's a fireplace, a little bar, and a record. Got some bar? The wonderful there with the surf pounding outside, hidden away from the world. You feel so safe. Don't stop. You like it there. You feel as if there's no one else on earth, time, standing still. I could just be sure that mother wouldn't worry about me. Here it is possible. Okay, Kathy, I'll be serious. What's with that brother of yours? Tony? I'd rather not talk about that if you don't mind. Well, maybe I can talk about your stepfather. I really should know what kind of a man my boss is. I go for these drives to forget all that, please don't spoil it for me. Okay, Kathy, okay. Please, the sharp turn into this driveway. Come on. Now we get out here.

8:04Yes, ma'am. Down this path. Uh-oh. Matt, are you afraid of high places? Yeah, you just pushed me off a one. Oh, Sam, don't be like that. You're pounding like a little boy. Come on, I want to show you my little house. What's so special about your little house? How Sam, if you only knew what my life is like. You only knew what mine is like. I need someone so much to talk to Sam. As long as you can steer the conversation, you mean? Come on, Sam. I'll show you the house. The path led to a clad of wooden steps that clung to the face of a sheer cliff. There was something like the stairs you find yourself falling down and nightmares. They dropped maybe 200 feet to a crescent of white sand. Watch out for that one step. It's broken. Yeah. You have to make your dream house this hard to get to? Because of Tony, he had vertigo. What? But we were kids he used to chase me and I'd run down here

9:04and he was scared to follow me. It's afraid of heights. He still is. Well, you light up the fire, Sam. The wood's there in the box. I'll go make it to the drink. Fire? Who needs a fire? I'm hot. What did you do before you took up your hiding? Oh, I was a private eye for a while. Oh, I was tiny. Yeah, it's a sour record. Tell me about it. Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about you. Here's your drink. Thanks. Well, what do you want to know about me? Help me? Come here. The scent she was wearing was 20 kett. The story of her life was heavy melodrama. It seemed that Dr. McGraw, a handsome fortune-hunter, was a folly of her mother's middle years. But she had come to her senses shortly before she died and cut him out of her will. But that was not the end of it.

10:05When Kathy's brother had been faced with the alternative of entering an institution or remaining at home under his stepfather's care, she had begged the doctor to remain in spite of his warnings that her brother might take a notion to kill her. But get this, Dundee. It's real deep. In spite of visible evidence to the contrary, she was convinced that her brother was not out to kill her but that the doctor was. I couldn't tell myself on that part of the year but she looked so awfully pretty while she was telling you. And suddenly she didn't look so pretty and expression of terror was on her face. Help! Help! Help! Get down! I rolled her out of the floor and kicked the lamp out of her. But the glow of the embers in the fireplace I could still see the gleam of the gun. They're all shoved in through the broken window. I hope he didn't see so much. I knocked over a chair to get something to shoot at. It was already half way up the face of the cliff and those wickedy wooden stairs of the top he turned and looked back. Who was it? It was Mark, wasn't it? The doctor? You know better than that. It was Tony.

11:05What you told me was afraid of heights couldn't come down those stairs. You never did before. Don't you believe me? Yeah. Yeah, Kathy. I may wind up believing the rest of your story. I took Kathy back to Bleakcliff and stashed her in my quarters over the garage. Then I went into the main house by other back stairs found her room and shook it down. And the cabinet of a bunch of war souvenirs, German helmets, grenades, rifles, and other lethal gadgets. And the desk drawer I found a letter headed US Army, Office of the Surgeon General. It's certified that one Anthony McGraw was unfit for military service. Vertigo, origin childhood injury to middle ear. I found stairs in the library. I found a shelf of medical books. Vertigo. Vertigo was almost incurable and there was certainly no quick cure. But some patients have lost their symptoms temporarily under hypnotism. And it's that C. Narco-Synthesis. I did.

12:07Speed. A big pot, sir. A Mr. Speed. Yeah. Whatever you're doing in the butthole's pantry, sir. Looking for a butler. Namely you, Carothers. May I serve you, sir? Yeah. How do I get an interview with Dr. McGraw? Well, sir. Oh. Strange, after all my years of service, I still started the master's office. You did it again? Yeah. All right. Sorry, sir. I better see what Dr. McGraw was. If they get it, I'm answering this one. You're not going to drop your disguise, sir. Why not? Who am I kidding, anyway? You're rang, Dr. McGraw? Well, I didn't ring for you. I rang for Carothers. I ordered him to tidy up my office while I was in dinner. And look at it. Looks neat as a pen to me, Dr.. Oh, yes, you're new here. So far, eh? I'm only wearing his uniform. He's my card. Oh, detective, eh?

13:07That's right, Dr. and this one's just about ready to wrap up. Well, you interested here. Go on. I will. I think you've been trying to use that boy and murder weapon against his sister. Oh. And you call yourself a detective? If you can call yourself a doctor, I guess I can't. You've been treating him with narcosynthesis, haven't you? Eh? I said, not a drug. While he's under it, you'll breathe him on his activities for the day and he follows through, including assaults with deadly weapons. That would be possible with certain very suggestible patients, but I'm afraid him possible to prove it. I think I can prove it, Dr.. You shouldn't leave your textbooks lying around loose. I'd find out the only way Tony could have walked on that stairway to carry his beach house without falling, would be temporary relief of his symptoms due to hypnotic suggestion, unquote. I see. What do you intend to do about this theory of yours? What do you suggest? You see this row of buzzers here on my desk. Well, this one is for my secretary. This is to summon carothers, and when I press this butter, through the most hideous plug of glaze you've ever seen, will rush into this office, beat you to a pulp,

14:08and dump you outside the front gate. That's what I think of your theory. Buzz a way, Dr. I think I like them better than I do you. And you wish? From where I was on the other side of the room, I didn't know what had happened at first. All I saw was a lot of paper gushing out of the waste basket. The doctor sure was dead. His midsection was perforated like a shallot brain. And the walls, spanning out around the end of the room, about a yard up on the Facebook, there was a straight line of holes. I dug into one, but I took out wasn't a bullet. It was a perfectly round steel ball. Then I remembered the waste basket, the paper flying out of it just before the explosion. In the bottom of it, I found the answer. The base of a steel mechanism with German lettering on it. It was a wartime antipersonal mine that the GI's called the Bouncing Betty. The United States Armed Forces Radio Service

15:10is presenting the weekly adventure of Dashel Hammett's famous private detective, Sam Spade. I didn't wait for the Squid Beats law to arrive, who could. I went straight back to San Francisco. You, Lieutenant Dundee, were waiting at my office. Good morning, Sam. Hello, Dundee. About that McGraw killing, Sam. In chiefs down at Squid Beats, it asked us to cooperate with the department down there. It's Squid Beats. Squid Beats, Dundee. Squid, that's right. They say you caught a bus at Squid Beats. Squid, that's right. It's the quarter of two in the company of a young woman answering the description of the McGraw girl. They say that, do they? They say they got a statement from that butler rather they could... Her rather, well, it's open and shut anyway. The butler hired you. The girl is wanted and you're hiding her out. Why? Why not? Or it's established that the girl hated the deceased

16:10and bickered with him constantly. The doctor and the boy were pal. That girl's guilty. You've been able to place her in the murder room? Oh no, but here's an item. She worked with an army ordinance during the war in research. Subject? I mean, to note of that. Enemy land mines and I personnel. One of the reports she helped put out was on the bouncing Betty. Yeah, definitely. Hey. Hey, where are you going, sir? Sir, it's been so long, some cooped up here all day. Why didn't you tell me you were with army ordinance during the war? I don't know. I suppose it thought it was seminum or something. Try again. All right, I'll tell you the truth. I had a copy of that report with instructions for the operation of the bouncing Betty in the desk in my room. What the devil you're doing with a thing like that? Oh no, I was proud of it. It was the only report I worked on with the general.

17:11You should have got rid of it. I did. I burned it in the fire place as soon as I learned what it killed it. You didn't burn it good enough. And they found it. Yeah. Have they arrested Tony? Not yet, but he's definitely saying you'll have to take the rap or anything he's done. I see. Well, I guess there's no other way. Tony didn't do it, Sam. I did. I want to make a confession. Not to make plays. Not to what happens out at the beach when I knew I was no longer safe anywhere. I realized I had to do it. But Tony's sake is well as mine. When we arrived back at the house, I looked into the dining room and I saw Dr. McGraw eating dinner. I knew it was my chance to get into his office. And then what? Well, the bouncing bed he was in my room. There was some wire in the tool chest. And I knew it because others always went tight to tidy up while the doctor was at dinner. So I waited until I saw him come out and then I went in. And I looked around for a place to plant it. Out of sight. Then I saw the waste basket full of paper. It was a perfect hiding place.

18:12The whole thing didn't take more than five minutes. Well, say something. I guess I don't know what to say. Go on, say you hate me, say it. Don't. Wish I did. Oh, say it. Help me, help me. I'm sorry, baby. I am sorry. I don't know how long we sat there. I held her in my arms until she cried herself out and we just looked at each other. And if I put it off another minute, I wouldn't call you at all, Dundee. So with my arms still around her, I reached for the phone. Amasite. Lieutenant Dundee, this is Sam's bed. Lieutenant Dundee. Hello. Hello. Give me that.

19:13Lieutenant, this is Captain McGraw. I wish to make a full confession in the middle of my circle. I walked out while she was still talking to you, Dundee. I knew she'd wait for you and I didn't want to be there when you took her away. As I walked over to my office, everything she'd said kept coming back to me. I could see her sneaking into her brother's room and getting her contraption out of the cabinet. I could see her hiding behind the door until her brothers came out after tidying up McGraw's office, dumping ash trays, emptying waste baskets. And that's as far as I got. I went back to my office to wait. And sure enough, 20 minutes after the papers hit the suites with Kathy's confession, the door opened and he came in. Well, sir, I believe it's turning a bit raw out of doors. The garden was saying only this morning that we should order out some shrouds for the sappy glow to see no arse actually. Am I just commoting you, sir? No, carothers, I'm at waiting for you. With your permission, sir. The ash tray.

20:13Where's the waste basket? Well, I am gratified to know that your secretary has been looking after things and has emptied your waste paper basket. Is this right in proper? Quite, quite. Yes, sir. And speaking of waste paper by... Allow me, carothers. You have come to apprise me of your plot in the death of the late Dr. McGraw. Am I an error? Oh. You've already divine my purpose, sir. Yes, it was I who placed that infernal machine. In the waste basket, carothers, yes, I know. It struck me as a bit of poetic justice that the buzzer, which that dreadful man used as a symbol of his despotism, should be the instrument of his own destruction. I'm sorry, carothers. I'll do all I can. No need, sir. No need. I'm aware that there is no final justification for taking the law into one's own hands. Every man is entitled to trial by jury of his peers. But where, Mr. Spade, where could be found 12 good men and true, who would allow themselves to be called the peer of that monster, Dr. McGraw?

21:30Period and a report. Sam, there must be some mistake. What was it? The butler can't be guilty. That's all sash. It was an old-fashioned butler, sweetheart. Where did they, can you get help like that? Somebody who empties the ice trays keeps the waste paper baskets clean tight. He's up around the bush. Well, I'd be only too happy to do the same for you, Sam. I know you would, though. Considering what happened to Mr. Carothers employer, I... Effie, you mustn't allow your mind to dwell on such matters. It's wicked. Sam! Who emptied an ash tray in that waste basket that I just finished cleaning all? Pay it no heed, sweetheart. I'll buy you a silent butler. I'll go tight that up. Where did Sam? I hope I haven't made any mistake. I'm in such a hurry! What? Ever did you do to your hair? Well, I brushed it out, Sam. What happened to the pen curls? I taught you, Sam, when it was brushed out, it wouldn't be noticeable. Hours of torture, sitting under a hot dry habit, something nobody will notice. But, Sam, it puts bouts in your whole makeup. I get it, the bouncing, effie-cafer.

22:32Nice shadow, new shade of lipstick. You look real gone. Oh, no. Whom is it tonight? Well, it's a friend of Marth, Sam. Of course, she's not really serious about him, so it's all right. You're conscious about him? Oh, no, Sam. No. And he's definitely not serious about her. I mean, he... Well, have fun, sweetheart, while Marth burns. Oh, well, she won't... And I suppose you'll be seeing that girl at the name. Oh, yes, Kathy. Well, at least, F, I'm not playing in someone else's garden. No. Well, have fun, anyway. Good night, Sam. Good night, sweetheart. The Adventures of Sam Spade, National Hammond's famous private detective, are produced and directed by William Spear. Sam Spade is played by Howard Dove. Lareen Tartel is effie.

23:44The Adventures of Sam Spade, Private Detective, is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service, The Voice of Information, and Education. The Voice of Information.