 The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective, brought to you by Wild Root Cream Oil Hair Tonic. The non-alcoholic hair tonic that contains lanolin. Wild Root Cream Oil. Again and again, the choice of men and women and children too. Yes. Is this Mr. Spade? Yes, but is this Ms. Parane? Yes, but... Why are you eating a peanut butter sandwich at this time of night? Why, the allusion to Poe's Raven. Was your assignment among the literati? It certainly was. There was Rowena from Ivan Hall, a lost linoar, a no-place Ralph, and a Boris from the Carlaw for the same name. Oh, how distinguished. Have you got a cold, Ed? No. Well, then there was a coniferous plant, a hideous meat-eating specimen of the botanical world, trying to take two fingers off me. Well, I've got three fingers all poured out for you here. Oh, I'm pretty hip. I can see you intend to be terribly amusing tonight. But even so, I intend to come right down and dictate my report on the stopped watchcaper, or time stood still. Dashel Hammett, America's leading detective fiction writer and creator of Sam Spade, the hard-boiled private eye, and William Spear, radio's outstanding producer-director of mystery and crime drama, join their talents to make your hair stand on in with the adventures of Sam Spade, presented by the makers of Wild Root Cream Oil for the hair. Well, in a few weeks, many of us will be going bare-headed now and then, meaning we'll have to pay more attention than ever to the appearance of our hair. The best way I know to always keep your hair in trim is to use Wild Root Cream Oil Hair Tonic. Wild Root Cream Oil grooms your hair neatly and naturally, removes loose dandruff and relieves dryness, which may be even more prevalent when your hair is exposed directly to the wind and sun. So right away, get the 25 cent get-acquainted bottle of Wild Root Cream Oil Hair Tonic. Again and again, the choice of men and women and children too. And now, with Howard Dove starring as Spade, Wild Root brings to the air the greatest private detective of them all, in the adventures of Sam Spade. The mighty sharp routine you give a purine on the phone. Where's Effie? Who are you? Sam, don't you remember me? Buffy! Certainly not. I never saw... Buffy, Buffy, wait a minute. Do I sense a certain family resemblance? No, you can't be Effie's little sister, Buffy. Yes. Big girl now. But thanks anyway for the tinkery toys you sent me last Christmas. I'll kill myself. I intend to start having children of my own just as soon as it's practical. Where's Eff, Buffy? She had to go to L.A. to visit a sick friend. A likely story. No, really. Chapter and verse, please. St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank. They went to school together and her name is Lerene Tatl. She's an actress. Yes, I know. A very fine actress. Is it serious? I hope not for Effie's sake. They're very close. Yeah. Well, what now? You take shorthand, Buff? Sort of. Spoken like a true purine. Come on in. Well, I hope it's good and gruesome. I take it back. I meant the caper, not what you're drinking. Okay, Buff, you win. Ready? Why not? Uh, date April 10, 1949 to, uh, Deputy Sheriff Bill Whittington, Marin Coddy Sheriff's Office, San Rafael, California, from Samuel Spade, license number, uh... 57596. Oh, steady listener. Uh, subject, the stopped watch caper. Dear Bill, here's how it turned out. And if I ever phone you for advice again, I'll take it because you were right. She was loaded. Some threatening letters, Sam. Don't give another thought. Old lady Raven has had me up there a dozen times the last six weeks. She's got threatening letters. She's got prowlers. But when I got there, she can't find the letters and the way that house is tucked away in the woods, I don't think a prowler could find it. How do I find it, Bill? Well, the gray line bus goes right by the gate. Mount Tama-Palais Road, about three miles this side of a rock spring. Well, that sounds pretty rugged. You, uh, say she's a crank. But she's got money, Sam. Oh, the poor old soul. She's got a niece. Oh? Yeah, she's stacked. The old lady's loaded. The niece is stacked. Who else lives there? Well, all attention to it. Sort of shuffles around the house. You ought to see them out in the woods, chasing them old ground squirrels. Quick as a deer, huh? Yeah, and they're there. Never mind, never mind. You sold me all these marvels I have got to see. It was only three in the PM when I scoped in through the gates of Ravenswood, but it was so dark the hoodie owls hadn't gone to bed yet. The fog snaked in and out through the dripping trees, long, chill ribbons of ghastly fog born on a sobbing wind. I mushed on into the deepening gloom of the forest primeval. After ten minutes of that, I began to wonder if there was any house there. When I saw it, I still wondered. It looked more like a fungus grove. Speak of the English. It is chilly, isn't it, son? Won't you come in? Uh, sure, why not? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Yes, yes, I expect that. If you'll be so kind as to wait here, sir, I'll inform Miss Rowena of your arrival. Thank you, Jenny Stewart. Mr. Hemlock, answer me, you brute. I... oh, where is it? Did you say Hemlock? Oh, you must be my aunt's detective. Spade, was it? It is, right. I'm Ralph Raven. Come along with me, Spade, I've something interesting to show you. Ralph Raven was the one member of the household you hadn't described to me, and no wonder. The wasted figure that looked up at me from the wheelchair was more like a ghost than a man. His face was chalk white. So white, it seemed almost luminous, and the skin clung so close to his skull there seemed to be no flesh beneath it. And his wide, staring eyes looked like two cups of black coffee and a snow-white tablecloth. I followed him into a glass-and-clothes room, only slightly larger than the garden court at the plaza. The humidity was several points higher than the dripping woods, and the temperature was several degrees lower. But the plants he had growing there seemed to thrive on. As I edged nervously through the dense, quivering foliage, I noticed a strange-looking yellow-green pod about the size of a milk bottle at the end of a long, tubular stem. It leaned over, opened its red mouth, and said, Hey, what is that thing? Oh, that's my sarancenia gigantosa. Me, either. Carnivorous plant. Don't be frightened, I just fed it. Don't tell me. You know what it eats? Acts like it needs a dose of bicarb. No, perfectly healthy. It's merely part of the digestive process, even as you and I. Not me. But over here, you're a detective. These plants should interest you. Don't touch that mandrake. Never thought of it. It won't cry out. No vocal cord. Oh, I see. Very sensitive. Oh, sensitive. And deadly poison. Oh. And see here, these pretty purple blossoms? Yes, very pretty. A source of an alkaloid poison favored by the Borges. And these white hellebore. What's your language? I use it in compounding varatria, a poison so ancient it would probably go undetected in the police laboratories of the day. And here's a charming one. Both a killer and a medicine. Belladonna. A deadly nightshade. A source of atrophy. And it's commonly known as Nuxvarmica. Produces not one, but two deadly poisons. The well-known strict mean and the rare and not easily detectable Brucey. Yeah. Well, it's quite a hobby, Mr. Reagan. No, it's not a mere hobby, Mr. Spade. It's a practical science. All the plants in this conservatory have their fatal properties and all played a role in the great kinds of history. Did my aunt get another threatening letter? So she says. Odd that she should fear death at her age and odd that she should hire a bodyguard. How does she know how it'll come? It might be poison. Speaking of poison, brother there, it's time for your medicine. Oh. Spade, my sister, the lost Lenora. How do you do, Mr. Spade? How do you do? Here, Ralph, drink up. Why does it always have to be in milk? Hey, look here. It's not time anyway. Oh. Confunded. Watch is stopped again. Spade, what time do you have? Well, it's, uh, three, uh... That's funny. My watch is stopped, too. I didn't know then what that meant. In fact, if you look on the last page of this report, Deputy Bear, you'll see that the stopped watch was the key to the whole puzzle. I protested my failure to realize its significance at that moment, had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my client's niece, Lenora Raven, was as you so roguishly put it. Stacked. About there, uh, Boris the butler bobbed up and beckoned me from the balustrade. I followed him upstairs and was ushered into the austere and regal presence of my client, Rowena Raven. That would be all, Boris. Yes, madam. Oh, Boris, I just remembered. Yes, madam. They're on the occasional table, my watch. I want you to take it around to the watchmakers in the morning. It's on the fritz again. Yes, madam. Mr. Spade, I must apologize for keeping you waiting. Oh, it's all right. My watch hasn't been keeping proper time ever since those threatening letters started. Would that be a clue, Mr. Spade? Uh, maybe we'd better start with the letters, Mrs. Raven. Uh, I can't find them anywhere. I think that young man from the sheriff's office must have pinched them. Bill Whittington? Oh, I'm sure not. Well, all the same. It's very odd that every time he comes here, he can't find them. Uh, where did you put them, Mrs. Raven? Right there on the occasional table. Yeah, well, uh, Mrs. Raven, sometimes, uh, people have very vivid dreams. Huh? It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with their minds or anything like that. You talk just like Dr. Schlosser. That young saw bones my knees sent around looked my sciatica. Sciatica is nothing but a pain. How can you look at it? It's a lot of bull. Yeah. What did the letters say, Mrs. Raven? That's why I wondered about my watch, Mr. Spade. The letters always contain some reference to time. Your time is running out. Beware when time moves slowly. Soon it may stop altogether. That sort of thing. You think there could be a connection? I mean, has there someone been tampering with my watch? The repairman doesn't know what's causing it to lose. Yeah, did he think it might have been tampered with? No. He thought it was something in the mouth. Magnetism of something. Well, that sounds logical. That's a lot of hooey. I lived here 40 years and my watch never lost a minute. Something in the mouth, in my eye. Something in this house, more like, or somebody. Yes, me. He's not half as sick as he presents to me. Your nephew? Uh-huh. What do you think? Well, I think he's a very sick man. No wonder sitting in that damp conservatory day after day pattering over those fiendish poisonous plants. You see the one that eats mice and hamburgers? Yes, I did. What's supposed to be the matter with your nephew, Mrs. Raven? Oh, he was in an auto accident and injured his neck. He had to remove part of the gland or something. His neck. But Dr. Spade says it's in good condition inside from that. And if he takes his medicine faithfully, there's no reason why he should... Come in! Ah, Mrs. Raven, how is that pain this afternoon? Worse. Thank you. Dr. Spade is Mr. Spade. Ah, yes. The detective you engaged to investigate those letters you've been receiving. Mr. Spade thinks it's an inside job. Don't you, Mrs. Spade? Well, that depends on what you mean by an inside job. There, you see? Inside, that's a romantic imagination of yours, my dear lady. Hold still now while I give you your shot. I love being jabbered. Well, now, that wasn't so bad. Can I work on? How is Ralph getting on, Doctor? Not well, I'm afraid. He doesn't seem to be responding to the... Mrs. Raven, what is it? It's poison. You poison me! The cry she uttered was only half as terrible as the expression on her pain-contorted face. She pitched forward in her chair with both fists clenched and shaking as if in anger at the doctor standing before her. He put down the empty hypodermic on the occasional table. Help me carry it to the couch. Yeah, sure. Take away that pillow. She must fly perfectly flat. There. That's better now. She's relaxing. I'm dying. There was poison in that needle. Please, Mrs. Raven, it was only sanity to make you sleep. Let me sleep. Let me sleep. My time is running out. The poor woman. Well, England's condition. Only a matter of time. Does she know? That she has only a short time to live? Well, I have another call. Do you have the time my watch seems to stop? Another one. I beg your pardon? Nothing. I left my watch at home. Oh. Look, something terrible has happened. You aren't escaping. You'd better come down to the conservatory right away. Ralph is in terrible pain. What kind of pain? He keeps saying he's been poisoned. What? Well, come along. Take that hypo to the kitchen and go on sterilizing. Where is it? There's a table there. I... He stopped on his tracks, his mouth fell over, and he gave to the table top where he put down the hypodermic. In its place, it appeared two items. An old-fashioned lady's watch and a note written in green ink. The note said, time must have a stop. I picked up the watch and held it in my ear. You guessed it. It wasn't ticking. I had a hunch my client wasn't either. And I was right. The makers of Wild Root Cream Oil are presenting the weekly Sunday adventure of the National Hammett's famous private detective Sam Spade. 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 Wild Root Cream Oil for the first time were asked, how does Wild Root 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 Wild Root Cream Oil. Remember, non-alcoholic Wild Root 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 25-cent size of Wild Root 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. By the way, smart girls use Wild Root Cream Oil too. And mothers say it's grand for training children's hair. Get Wild Root Cream Oil. Again and again, the choice of men and women and children too. And now, back to the stop watchkeeper. Tonight's adventure with Sam Spade. Hey, wait. Oh. Over here. Oh, Spade. Keep them away from me. Ralph, I came as soon as I called. Tell me your symptoms. No. I've phoned for another doctor. He's on his way now. Spade, my aunt. I'm sure I must tell her. Tell her what? I'm afraid we have some bad news for you, Ralph. Your aunt is dead. Oh. So you poisoned her too. Ralph, you're sick. You don't know what you're saying. She's been to every specialist in the country. They all said the same thing. They all said she was good for another three months. My dear boy, in this case, as any doctor's guess, he's as bad as the Nick. Please, Ralph, you're very sick. Please let the wig examine you. If it's what you think, the other doctor may be too late. Why not? Why should I fear death? That's better. Now let me see your eyes. So... So, open the mouth. So... What is it? What is it? He's right. It is poison. You see? You know, my dear, when you sterilized that needle for Ralph's shot this morning, did you pick up the wrong bottle? Of course not. Strange. Very strange. But don't worry, Ralph. There's a very simple antidote. Oh, thank heaven. You should, my dear. Indeed you should. And that was that, deputy deer. Two doctors in the county coroner took one look at my late client's medical history and decided on death due to natural causes. I didn't think so, and neither did you. So they're really worth threatening letters? I saw one. You sure now, Sam? Sure, I'm sure. Where'd you say it was? On the occasional table. Yeah. What was it doing when it wasn't a table? Not occasionally. Occasionally. Oh, just any old table. No, Bill. Now, Bill, get this. It's real deep. The occasional table is a table that a woman puts up at a bargain and puts into a room under the mistaken impression that it may come in handy someday. Mrs. Raven used hers as a catch-off for her unanswered correspondence, threatening letters included. And what happened to the one you saw? I don't know. I put it right here in my coat pocket along with a watch. It just disappeared. Well, that might be tampering with evidence. Listen, Bill. Things were disappearing from that table almost as fast as other things showed up. Yeah. It sounds like pack rat. You follow that up, Bill. I'm going to pack up and rat out of here. Now look, Sam. My client's dead. It's officially OK. I haven't made a penny out of the caper, and now I'm not likely to. So do you give me a lift back to the tollgate or do I hitchhike? There's your answer. Come on. When we reached the second bedroom, once the scream had come, we found the lost Lenore looking well-found and something comfortable. She's standing center stage, regarding herself with horror in a full-length mirror. She looks awful pale, Bill. You better get downstairs and get some ice water, she might faint. You think so? Yeah. Hurry up. I'll stay here and keep up a circulation in case anything happens. Yeah, you're right. Beat it. You thought what? Look, I found these on my pillow. One watch, one threatening letter. Whose watch? Mine. I left it on the dressing table when I went in to cream my face. I came out, somebody had slipped this under. On the dressing table? No, under my pillow. You said on your pillow. I meant under. I mean on. I don't know what I mean. What are you trying to do to me? Just trying to get things straight. But the note, look at it, it's exactly the same as the one he left in my aunt's room. Why do you say he? Oh, I don't know. Yes, I do. It's because I don't trust Ludwig. Dr. Schlosser. That figures he doesn't trust you, either. But he pretended to think I might have picked up the wrong bottle. Oh, he was acting. Couldn't you see? You're not doing a bad job yourself. I'm not acting, not anymore. Listen to me. Listen, he's acted strangely ever since I foolishly said I'd marry him. I would myself. Oh, Sam, darling, don't joke. I don't mean like that. How did you meet him? He got me out of a jam once. The accident when my brother was hurt. I went for a doctor and he happened to be the nearest one. Well, I'd been drinking and he took over and he sent me home before the police arrived at the scene. Didn't Ralph know? He blanked out. He doesn't know to this day. But Ludwig never forgot. He forced me to recommend him to my aunt. He got into her good graces, practically moved into the house. Then he pretended to make love to me. Pretended? He didn't care about me until he found out about my aunt and didn't have long to live. He knew half the money would come to me. Do you think he poisoned my aunt? Officially, she died from natural causes. But you said she spoke about being poisoned. And Ralph, too. What's that medicine you give them in milk? I don't know. It's a prescription. Just some drops that come in a metal container. Where do you keep those drops? Here. They're in my room. I have to hide them. They make Ralph feel so much better. He used to overdose when the doctor trusted him to dose himself. Let me see that medicine. It's just here in this cabinet. Here it is. It's... Don't tell me. It's empty. There was a glass bottle inside the container. Small but heavy. Lead yet. Hey, what are you doing with that gadget? The thing with the dials and the spidometer. Oh, that's something medical. I have to make a test on Ralph every day to see how he's getting along. You know what that actually is? I do it. It detects anemia. Well, I wouldn't know about that. But a geiger counter is generally used to detect something else. What are you going to do with it? I'm going prospecting for that missing medicine. There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. I'm afraid I have bad news for you, Lenore. Ralph? My diagnosis was correct. Punitious anemia. Dad. What is that you are carrying, Mr. Spade? Oh, nothing special, doctor. Just an old geiger counter. Lenore, did you let him take it? He said he was going to use it to find Ralph's medicine. What happened to Ralph's medicine? I don't know. It's just gone. Mr. Spade, that machinery is my property. I must ask you to hand it over. No gun necessary, doctor. Here, take it. Take your gun, too, sir. Lenore carries the machine this way. Walk ahead of us. First, we try the conservatory. He was an amateur with a gun, but I didn't jump him for it because I'm an amateur with a geiger. I did notice that the indicator on the dial got nervous the minute we walked into the conservatory. Ralph Raven's body was still in the wheelchair. No paler in depth and in light. His sightless eyes were fixed on that obscene plant. The plant looked sick, too. It was grooving and his red mouth was hanging open. As we walked past the wheelchair, the indicator on the dial of the geiger counter moved forward and then slipped back again. Then it took a sudden big jump. Ah, so that's what his hiding place is. The more of that disgusting carnivorous plant. Well, it's not pleasant, but there's only one way to get it. Don't move, either one of you. My eye is on you. Yes, it's here. The first I thought the plant had bitten him. Then he pulled his hand out and I saw what had happened. There was a hypodermic outfit stuck in the heel of his hand. It surprised him, no end, but he still managed to hold on to that gun. He swung it away from me and was holding it on the door. You knew. No. No, I didn't. You must have broken you. He must have told you. No, I swear he didn't. What do you think I did this far? To die and leave you behind? To enjoy the money I got for you? No, you will come with me. Oh, no, you don't know what you're doing. There's someone right here. Shut up. What are you looking at? Don't sit behind me. Don't bother rushing. Sam, I've got it. Hold it, Bill. How's that for shooting, Sam? Yeah, you find a bullet hole in them, Bill, and I'll call it good. And that deputy, dear, is the crop. And it's all carnivorous. In case you're still wondering what dropped him when your shots missed, this was the poison in that hypodermic needle which Ralph had planted there for that very purpose and then baited the trap of the all-important missing medicine. Later on, I learned that what the doctor had been feeding him was the right medicine for what ailed him, an isotope of iodine. It seems it's radioactive like uranium, but if you take too much of it, you die. Not of poisoning, but of pernicious anemia, which is how the doctor planned for Ralph to die. It also magnetizes watches so they don't keep the right time. And of their cheap ones, like mine, they may stop altogether. Uh, period, and a report. Got all that, Buffy? Uh, I got it, Sam, but I don't get it. And, Buffy, people have studied all their lives to learn about atomic stuff like isotopes, and you expect me to teach you everything in one easy lesson. Oh, no, Sam, I know about that. But who killed who? Whom, dear? The doctor killed everyone, but Ralph loaded the needle. Then they were accomplices? No, Buffy, get this, this is real shallow. Ralph knew there was no way in the world to prove that the doctor was killing him and hastening his aunt's demise, so he saw to it that she got a dose of detectable poison and did himself the same favor. Now, uh, like a good girl, go type that out. And now, listen to this. More and more millions agree every day. Wild root cream oil has become America's favorite hair tonic because of the neat natural way it grooms the hair. Because of the quick, easy way it relieves dryness and removes loose dandruff. Get non-alcoholic wild root cream oil with lanolin right away and ask your barber for a professional application of wild root cream oil hair tonic. Again and again, the choice of men and women and children, too. I certainly hope that butler was brought to justice. What for is dialect? Oh, for helping to deliver the threatening letters and then stealing off the occasional table. A brilliant introduction. How did you deduce? Sam, that's for kids. I was too ill to walk, and somebody had to push him upstairs in the wheelchair. Now, wouldn't it have been easier just to carry him? That's how he did it? Or, uh, just go up himself? That's how. Possibly. And then again, we may never know. But, uh, do we care? Yes. I hate losing, Sam. Then keep it up. Good night, Sam. Spoken like a true perine. So I'll say to you, good night, sweetheart. The adventures of Sam Spade, National Hammett's famous private detective, are produced and directed by William Spear. Sam Spade is played by Howard Duff. The adventures of Sam Spade are written for radio by Bob Tolman and Gil Dowd. Musical direction by Lud Gluskin, with score composed by Renee and Pierre Garagang. Join us again next Sunday when author Dashel Hammett and producer William Spear join forces for another adventure with Sam Spade. Brought to you by Wild Root Cream Oil. Again and again, the choice of men and women and children, too. This is Dick Joy, reminding you, too. Get Wild Root Cream Oil, Charlie. It keeps your hair in trim. You see, it's non-alcoholic, Charlie. It's made with sooth and ladle in. You better get Wild Root Cream Oil, Charlie. Start using it today. You'll find that you will have a tough time, Charlie. Keep it all the gals away. Hiya, Baldi. Get Wild Root Ride. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.