 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 who put good grooming first. You have just won a hundred and four million dollars, six deep freeze units, a stable of polo ponies with matching saddle soap, a terry cloth robe with chocolate bars pre-melded into the pockets, and a full-sized real honest-to-goodness dreadnought, such as this used by Uncle Sam's Navy. Oh, I'm sorry you'd have to call back. I'm expecting to be taking dictation from my employer very shortly. Oh, I am sorry your time is up and Edna St. Vincent Markowitz, who sent in the question, gets bumped off in front of the studio audience gathered in the dredgewood room here in Columbia Square. Next night, don't answer your phone, stupid. Oh, Sam. Let's have no coaching, please. Oh, did you find the cop? Was it murder? Was it really worth, um, well, you know, priceless and like that and was it fun? Yes, yes, yes, and no. And finally, are you kidding? Well, then why was it called a Vafio Cup? It's a very old Greek expression, which is what I'll be wearing as I sit in your lap dictating my report on the Vafio Cup caper. Daschel 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 end with the adventures of Sam Spade, presented by the makers of Wild Root Cream Oil for the hair. Remember the Romeo of yesteryear? Hair parted in the middle, all plastered down. Man, what a difference today. Today all a guy has to do to impress a gal is use Wild Root Cream Oil Hair Tonic. Wild Root Cream Oil grooms the hair neatly and naturally, relieves dryness and removes loose dandruff. If you're still using old-fashioned hair tonics, or none at all, then for her sake, spruce up today with Wild Root Cream Oil Hair Tonic. In bottles or the handy new tube, it's again and again the choice of men who put good grooming first. And now with Howard Duff starring as Spade, Wild Root brings to the air the greatest private detective of them all in the adventures of Sam Spade. No, Smithwick, Sam. Honestly, there's Uncle George and Anna Melia by a previous marriage. Then there's my cousin Rupert on the Christie side. When you were finished ruminating amongst the foliage of your family tree, Miss Perrine. Well, I only mentioned it in the letter with that name that you thought you... All right, we'll stop all over again. Tear out that page. No, no, please. No need to curtsy. To Jethro Chiswick, no comment, please. From Samuel Spade, license number 137596. What's that? Subject, the Vafio Cupcaper, dear Commodore. That's the way I like it. Meek. I'd always considered myself fairly well-versed in the subject of cups, but if anybody had told me there was such a thing as a Vafio Cup, they could have knocked me over with one, which they did. Mr. Spade? Yeah. I'm Chester A. Brody. I talked with your secretary on the phone. Do you follow? Oh, yes, Mr. Brody. Sit down. Rest your package. Thank you. I prefer to hold it for the time being. My card, sir. Theophilus and Brody, importers and exporters, mm-hmm. Mr. Theophilus is my partner. Dimitri Theophilus. You follow? I follow. It was Mr. Theophilus who brought the Vafio Cup into the firm. I furnished the cash capital. Vafio Cup, I do not follow. Yes, indeed. The only one of these treasures to fall into private hands, one of the fabulous Vafio Cups, those exquisite and comingly wrought examples of the art of the ancient Grecian goldsmith, excavated by the great Schleeman from a beehive tomb in Sparta. Mm, beehive. My senior age. Just west of the Lion Gate. Oh, the Lion Gate. Pardon me, Mr. Brody. Are you trying to tell me that this cup is very valuable? Priceless. And that you will finally manage to find a buyer? Do you follow? And that you want me to deliver that package containing your priceless cup and return with your customer's cash? Accurately put. I presume you're bonded. Uncork me and see for yourself. You are a droll fellow, to be sure. I had a light breakfast, drolls, and coffee. Now, what is this Vafio Cup? I will show it to you. You're about to see a treasure, but few eyes have looked upon in our time, Mr. Spade. The Vafio Cup. Hand with carefully. It's fragile. You could crush it in your hand like so much tinfoil. Yet this golden relic of a golden age has come down through the centuries miraculously unscathed. Note the delicately wrought lines of the bar in Yef. The exquisite draperies on the figure of the Cariattini. The anguish on the face of the fallen hunter. The sheer brute force of the wild boar charging to the kill. Holding this golden cup in your hands, you encompass 3,000 years. Do you comprehend why there's no question of insurance here? Frankly, I don't. My dear man, an item such as this is worth only as much as a collector will pay for it. This particular collector has offered $200,000. It might never be offered again. You follow? I follow. Very well. Here's your fee. $100. I follow. And here is the address of my client in Los Angeles. Commodore Jethro Chiswick. Oh, now, wait a minute. You will take the noon train. Any questions? Yeah. Why can't I go on a plane? Because I've placed an item in this afternoon's papers to the effect that the treasure is to be transported by a plane. If I were a conif and I read that item, I'd take the train. That would be your first thought. Then you would think they're saying they're taking the plane to make me think they're taking the train. Therefore you would take the plane after all. Oh, would you? If you were really clever, you might say they're taking the plane to make one think it's the train. So I'll take the plane after all. And therefore... Never mind. By this time, he's decided on the bus. The train is perfectly safe. You follow? The package was light in the drawing room and the train was comfortable. Seemed like an easy way to earn $100. I knew it wouldn't last. Never does. I was prepared for the knock on the door and I got ready for the inevitable small dark man who plays the Peter Laurie part. But this one fooled me. He was a tall, thin actor with sandy hair. Okay, Shamus. Hand over the package. You won't be no trouble. Sure. There it is on the seat. Take it. Huh? It's okay. You got me covered. I won't make any move. Hey, what are you trying to pull? It's a stick-up, isn't it? Maybe I got the wrong cup of coffee. No, that's it. The cup's in there. Unwrap it and see if it's yourself. Oh, no, you don't. I ain't picking up no booby traps. Oh, you're yellow, huh? I know that one, too. I don't cut no ice for me. Search yourself. Game of gin? Hey, you're nuts. I'm getting out of here. Hey, wait a minute, pal. I'll buy you a drink. I don't drink. Lunch? In a cup! Yes, indeed, Mr. Spade. I agree. Clarence is a very comical fellow. So are you. I took the liberty of stepping into your folks, or whilst you had your bit of railway in the aftercompanion way with my mate, Der Clarence. Do you mind? Not at all. Well, sir, I'm afraid you're going to mind a great deal. And that's how I met you, Commodore. I was so busy sizing up the 45 in your right hand that I didn't even notice when you left whipped out of your coat pocket with one of the largest saps I have ever felt. The next time I saw a light, you were gone, the Vafio Cup was gone, and the train was pulling into San Jose. I got off, rode back to San Francisco with a truckload of chickens, and headed straight for my client's apartment. You got here quick? Yeah. Come in. Thanks. Well, what? Look, we can't both play this deadpan. We'll stay no place. It's in the back room. What is? The body. You're from the police, aren't you? I'm a private victim. How dare you? Hey, what was that for? For spying on me. You and all the other cheap gums she was my husband hires. You're Mrs. Brody? I'm Enid Theophilus. Didn't, to me, did my husband hire you? My name is Sam Spade. I was hired by one Chester A. Brody, your husband's business partner. Well, Sam, I hope he paid you in advance because he's the body. Chester A. Brody was just barely identifiable. Somebody had worked hard trying to persuade him to say or do something he either couldn't or wouldn't do. The only interesting clue was in the wastebasket. At first, I thought it was a flattened beer can. But it was the Vafio Cup or a facsimile thereof. I don't. He was my client. I wasn't hired to protect him. I didn't like him, but he was my client. How would you like me for a client? I'll give you the name of a lawyer, sister. My name is Enid. Enid? Now, let's see what I can squeeze out of you before the cops do. Brody was your husband's business partner and your, uh... You don't have to be subtle. He was mad about me. I'm... I'm all broken up about his death. So was he. That wasn't funny. That time, I deserved it. You don't like me, do you? Can't you get it through that steel-jagged brain of yours that you're in bad trouble that there's a dead man in the next room beating to death and you're not supposed to be here? Oh, I was supposed to be here. We were going to a law firm. We were going to a lope as soon as you brought back the money from that, uh, Greek thing. Yeah, what about that Greek thing? It was an antique. It was called the Vafio Cup. Yes, I know about that. Well, my husband dug it up in Greece and smuggled it into the country. Yeah. It was all he had, but it was such an important piece that he was able to persuade Chet, um, the late Chester Brody, that is, to let him in as a full partner. Then what? Well, they quarreled. My husband made some bad investments, and Chet wanted to sell the cup to save the firm. Dmitry refused. I didn't think it was fair, so I got the keys to his safety deposit box where the cup was and Chet arranged to sell it to the Commodore. Did, uh, did you get the money from the Commodore? All I got from the Commodore was lumps. He stole the cup? Roger. You've got to get it back. I've got it. Where? Yeah, take a look. Wait, it's ruined. Where did you find it? In a trash basket where it belongs. Dmitry did it. He must have suspected something and substituted a fake. That's it. He knows where the real one is. Somebody thought that your boyfriend knew. The one that killed him? That's the way it looks. I mean, that's the way it was meant to look. You know, somebody might get the idea that you palmed the genuine when you got it out of that safety deposit box. If I did it, it was legal, and don't you forget it. A wife can't steal from her husband. Legally, they're one person. You can't steal from yourself. That's the law. I was wrong. You don't need a lawyer. Will you help me? I may hurt you, and it'll cost you anyway. I know what's good for me. Money. Find that cup. I know what's good for me, too. So I took her a hundred bucks, advised her to go home, and made for my own humble logic. They were not only humble. They were crowded. The man was small. The big gun was enormous. I said, don't bother to introduce yourself. Your name is Dmitry Theopoulos, and you want this package that I'm carrying. The makers of Wild Root Cream Oil are presenting the weekly Sunday adventure of Dashel 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. Get Wild Root Cream Oil. Again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first. By the way, smart girls use Wild Root Cream Oil too, and mothers say it's grand for training children's hair. And now back to the Vafio Cupcaper, tonight's adventure with Sam Spade. You didn't answer me, so I said it again. Don't bother to introduce yourself. Your name is Dmitri Theopoulos, and you want this package that I'm carrying. Of that be assured, you obtained this from my dear wife. And how did you find my darling? Not at the city pound, surprisingly enough. Oh, you know my dear wife. How soon you know my darling so well, more than I her husband. Is it possible? I don't know, is it? I don't know either. I employ a detective. Not this one. I have need. My poor partner, Mr. Brody, you are interesting. If you are interesting about who killed your partner, that's one thing. But if you want somebody to dig out your family's secrets, that is nothing. With me, you are, shall we say, no place. But why don't I got the right to know? There'll be no trouble, no scandal, no divorcement suing. Of that be assured. Even poor Chester is dead, so here's what one calls ancient history. While he lived, I knew nothing. I was blind. After he died, I see certain things. Yeah, well, do you see that maybe your wife had a hand and Brody's death? What then? Well, if it so happens that you cannot separate my darling from that, do you follow? Not quite. I'm not an old man. Oh, I wouldn't say that. But my dear wife is about two and twenty and a truly lovely person. Oh, she's all right. Would it not be the part of husbandly wisdom to have, shall I say, a hold over her? If she's guilty, you won't need it. Good. Please, I cannot hold the gun and handle my wallet at the same time. Please. No, thanks. You keep the gun, I'll take the wallet. Oh, you trust me. You will work for me. I'll work for anybody. Here, I left you cab. Oh, assuredly, you are so very kind. Oh, I'm not so kind. Now the pocket, yes? No. Then I don't hesitate to suit you. Oh, wait a minute. Yes? This is the fake. You sure you want this? Assuredly, yes. A man has already been killed for it. Your life's a high price to pay for a fake, though fancy, tin cup. You still think that's the price? Brother, I know it. Then you know I will kill you for it. Okay, if it means that much to you, and I guess it does, it's all yours. Okay, thank you. Please remember where you are. If you follow me, I will surely suit you. For my front window, I watched them come out downstairs and start across the street. Then it happened. I saw the gun flashes at fire with the envelope slumped to the pavement. The package slid away from him and it gutted. I beat it down to him. He'd taken all three pellets in the midsection from close range. His pulse flooded once or twice and then stopped. When I went to look for the package, it wasn't there. I called homicide and waited until they took him away. When I told Lieutenant Dundee what I had in mind, he congratulated me on my brilliant scheme and told me to go ahead with it. That was his mistake. I even talked him out of assigning any of these harness men to watch my building for the next couple of hours. That was my mistake. I went upstairs, opened the bottle and waited for your knock on my door, Commodore. Well, sir, a man would almost think you expected us. Keep a weather eye on him, Clarence. Don't let him get to Lewitt. Aye, sir. Welcome aboard. No time to scuttle, but, Mr. Spade, we are bound for a bully long barley on the MacArthur Maroo, sailing at dawn. I want that cup. The true, the genuine, the Vafio cup. No more deceptions, no more trickery. You will hand it over without further delay. Sure. Be glad to. Oh, no, not like that. You will tell Clarence where it is stowed and Clarence will fetch it above decks. Wahee, old barnacle. Theophilus never had his mitts in a genuine Vafio cup. Bilgewater, sir. When Theophilus landed in San Francisco, he didn't have a farthing. Now he owes half a million dollars. If he hadn't got the genuine cup, how could he have borrowed all that money? Because a bunch of morons like you believed he had it. Blast my binnacles, man. You sound as though you believed what you're saying. Look, Commodore, you're interested in high finance. How did Ivor Kruger make his millions? Why, matches. He was the match king, sir. Matches had nothing to do with it, Commodore. He started out with 15 million bucks with a phony government bonds that he printed himself. Follow? They weren't even good carnivists, but he was smart enough not to try and cash them. He just kept them in a safety deposit box and borrowed money. Theophilus used his phony Vafio cup the same way. Blast my binnacles, man. You sound as though you believed what you're saying. That isn't familiar range of it. I do. And I'll tell you why. He knew that that was the fake in the package when he held me up for it. He was willing to risk his own life to get it out of circulation. Dash my timbers. Ophiophilus has left us without a shot in the locker. He's teared us onto the shoals. We're on our beam ends. Hey, kind of morph, Commodore. You pump a bilge flush. We better haul our wind. Yes, indeed. I'm afraid it's getting rather warm in San Francisco. Bully long beckons. You won't make it past the potato patch. What? The cops are going to want some answers about a couple of steps you left behind in San Francisco. I'm glad you reminded me. Can I plug them? No, no. We are taking him with us. That's what you think. Take it easy, mate. This ain't going to hurt a bit. A reek of chloroform filled the room and a fist pounded it in my belly. It knocked my wind out at the same time. My nose collided with something wet and cold. I swung out, but didn't connect. Before I could swing again, the room blurred and a ceiling light floated down to meet me. Then the lights went out altogether. At first, I couldn't figure it. It sounded like what a doctor hears through a stethoscope or maybe an earthquake or maybe ship engines, which it turned out to be. When the lights came out again, I was lying on a bunk in a state room. I staggered across to the washbasin and splashed water on my face. Eat it, as I hardly live and breathe. It could get worse. Yeah, where are we? Oh, not very far out. Not past the far along. Good. I'm a stowaway and I'll put me off of the pilot. Oh, no, you're not. Your passage is paid. Mine? It is, huh? It is. Do you know who you are? Who am I? Chester Brody. Then I'm dead. They'll bury me at sea. Roger. Who are you? I'm your widow. What's the score, widow? Chester and I booked passage on this ship a week ago. It was part of the plan. Chester and the Commodore worked it all out. Yeah, the cupers that were been stolen from me on the train. Yes, but when the Commodore discovered it was a fake, everything fell to pieces. Yeah, he thought Chester was double-crossing him. They forced Chet to talk. He told them to meet for you. He told them Dmitri still had the genuine Vafio cup and had hired you for the double-cross. Maybe he really believed it. Anyway, they killed Dmitri. Yeah, well, there's nothing on them yet. But you're a material witness, sweetheart, to at least one of the killings that's extraditable. When that dawns on them, they'll scuttle you, too. It's already dawned on them. I'm desperate. Yes, I notice. For you, you're practically hysterical. We have to face fact. Yeah, well, give me a couple to face right now. Where are the Commodore and Clarence? Up on the bridge. Good. All you have to do is walk straight up to the captain. He'll put them under arrest. Well, that might be a good idea, darling, only... Only what? Only the Commodore is the captain. That torrent. Your salty talk fooled me, Commodore. I never dreamed that you were really an old sea dog, and I do mean dog, but two can play at that game. For my own intimate knowledge of sea story magazines, I realized that all hands would be turned to in the cargo gear, and the crew quarters would be, therefore, empty. And more time than it takes to tell, Ena and I had fitted ourselves out in dungarees, jumpers, and watchcaps, and turned to with them. Oh, me? You may recall, Commodore, you may recall me as the man who ran for a fire extinguisher when the boss and yelts stole the preventer. But experience is the best teacher, and by the time we hold two to put the pilot over the side, things were in such a state of confusion that you had retreated to your cabin with a quadruple ration of grog. Seizing that moment, I threw Ena over the side, yelled, man overboard, and jumped in after it. Once safely aboard the pilot's schooner, we revealed our true identity, and a merry laugh was enjoyed by all. It dropped us at the foot of market, and we waved warm farewells to our erstwhile rescuers, then to the snug haven of my office and a friendly cup, if you'll pardon the expression, in the grateful warmth of a gas radiator. Unhealthy. Whom me? Gas fumes. Why don't you move into a building with steam heat? I like this building. I've been here for a long time. You don't make much money, do you? You don't have to rub it in. It's a living. You happy? Sure, I am. Well, I guess it's all right then. You know, sweetheart, there's something missing in you. What? Then how do you know? Forget it. Well, I guess I'll go. Do you mind if I don't see you to the door? Why should I? Hey, you are human. Yeah, they're wet. Go ahead, sweetheart. Cry on your water. It's been tough. You shouldn't have kept it bottled up this long. No, it's not what you think. Well, what is it? It's you. You're so nice. I'm nice? Yeah, but you're no place. You never will be. And neither will I. That corridor is the cargo. It was nice seeing you again down at the hall. They tell me you and Clarence are both trying to turn state's evidence. But according to the late bulletins, Clarence was leading by a neck in the stretch. Get it? The DA was afraid the jury might not understand your salty talk. Period. End of sea, Chanty. Oh, sir. Yes, what? What? What? Oh, sir. Hmm? Oh, I just can't. I just can't. Oh, why can't you? Are you feeling okay, F? F, you speak to me. What is it? What is it? I betrayed my trust. What? What? Those criminals were on that boat. Yes. And you? You feel that I was recalcitrant? Is that it? That my actions were not true blue. Clear cut? Is that it? Question. What's the easiest and best way there is to give your hair that well-groomed look? Answer, wild root cream oil. Yes, non-alcoholic wild root cream oil with soothing lanolin gives you the advantages considered most important in a hair tonic. It grooms your hair neatly and naturally, relieves annoying dryness, removes loose ugly dandruff. Call at your drug or toilet goods counter tonight or first thing tomorrow for wild root cream oil. If you've never tried it before, get the generous new 25-cent bottle just introduced. Also, ask your barber for a professional application of wild root cream oil hair tonic. Again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first. Telling is all right. I was so upset. You hate me, then. Oh, no. I suppose it's foolish going long thinking that your ideal doesn't have feet of clay. I just can't. I just can't, man. Don't you think I can explain that? Oh, yes. I'm sure you can explain. But you did. You deserted your post and jumped overboard like a sinking rat. That's right. Sam, that's so unlike you. It was just by chance they were apprehended. By chance, you say? Who do you think it was that got himself shot out of a torpedo tube in that submarine? You, Sam? No. You think I'm crazy? I did something few radio detectors ever do, sweetheart. I called the harbor patrols single-handed using only one nickel and had them picked up. Oh, Sam, I wish I'd been there. Well, it was just a small phone booth. Besides, if you'd been there, it would have been out of order or something. Oh, Sam, you came through after all. Aren't you ashamed that you ever doubted me? Yes, I am. I'm a fool. There, there, there. I forgive you. Good night, Sam. Good night, sweetheart. The adventures of Sam Spade, Dashel Hammett's famous private detective, are produced and directed by William Spear. Sam Spade is played by Howard Dove. Lerene Tuttle is epi. The adventures of Sam Spade are written for radio by Bob Tallman and Gil Down. Musical direction is by Lud Gluskin with score composed by Renee Gerrigan. 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 who put good grooming first. This is Dick Joy reminding you to... 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 lanolin. You better get Wild Root Cream Oil Charlie. Start using it today. You'll find that you will have a tough time, Charlie. Get Wild Root Root. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.