The Adventures of Sam Spade: Biddle Riddle Caper 01/05/1951

Summary

The Adventures of Sam Spade: Biddle Riddle Caper – Detailed Summary

Episode Overview

The Adventures of Sam Spade: Biddle Riddle Caper is a captivating installment from the Golden Age of Radio, brought to life by Choice Classic Radio. Released on May 17, 2025, this episode plunges listeners into the intricate investigation led by the iconic private detective, Sam Spade, as he unravels the mysterious murder of Carol Stevens. Set against the backdrop of 1950s San Francisco, the episode masterfully weaves suspense, sharp dialogue, and classic detective work to keep audiences engaged from start to finish.

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The Case Unveiled

The episode kicks off with Sam Spade being approached by Tracy Abbott, the editor and producer of Olympic Radio Productions. Abbott presents Spade with a compelling challenge: uncover the truth behind the unsolved murder of Carol Stevens, informally dubbed San Francisco's "Black Dahlia." With a hefty reward of $50,000 for information leading to the killer's conviction, Spade is tasked with solving the Biddle Riddle Caper within a tight 24-hour window.

Notable Quote:

Tracy Abbott [06:08]: "You have 24 hours to find a man for me."

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The Investigation Begins

Sam Spade dives into the case by revisiting the crime scene—the apartment of Carol Stevens. He meticulously reconstructs the events leading up to her demise, noting key details such as the use of a bronze bookend as the murder weapon and the inconsistent alibi provided by Jimmy Biddle, the doorman at the Broadway Burlesque.

As Spade interviews Joseph P. Norgaard, a prominent criminal lawyer, he uncovers discrepancies in Biddle's alibi. Norgaard reveals that Biddle had been drinking Old Fashioneds on the night of the murder, yet maintain his innocence, stating, "I don't know where he is now, and I don't know who killed Carol Stevens" (Joseph P. Norgaard, 10:59).

Notable Quote:

Sam Spade [07:03]: "She'd taken her last turn under the blue spot around 10:30, left the theater and hustled straight home."

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Key Discoveries and Twists

Spade's relentless pursuit leads him to interact with various characters, including Rosalie, the landlady at Biddle's last known address. Rosalie provides Spade with crucial information about Biddle's activities post-murder, specifically his employment at the Pacific Ballroom. However, she remains tight-lipped about Biddle's whereabouts, hinting at deeper complexities in the case.

In a pivotal moment, Spade discovers a tape recorder in Biddle's apartment containing an incomplete confession. Realizing that Joseph P. Norgaard tampered with the recording, Spade deciphers the missing pieces by analyzing the discrepancies in the time stamps and the number of chimes heard during the murder. This leads him to a breakthrough in identifying inconsistencies in the alibi.

Notable Quote:

Sam Spade [29:01]: "Why, sweetheart, that's self-explanatory. The clock said 4, you see. But it was 12. It'll have been dead an hour, which makes it 11. Carry one 1. Subtracting 4 from that leaves 7."

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The Confession and Conclusion

The climax unfolds as Sam Spade confronts the manipulated tape recording. He skillfully identifies the alterations made by Norgaard, revealing that the supposed confession was a manufactured cover-up. The true confession of Jimmy Biddle emerges, where he admits to murdering Carol Stevens out of jealousy and tiredness of his deceitful lifestyle.

In a dramatic turn, Spade exposes Norgaard's involvement in tampering with evidence to protect the real perpetrator. This revelation leads to the arrest of both Norgaard and Pinstripe, ensuring that justice is served for Carol Stevens.

Notable Quote:

Sam Spade [27:25]: "He should have studied up on his tape recorders, baby. With a pair of scissors and a good technician, Jimmy's eyewitness account turned into a first-class confession."

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Character Insights

• Sam Spade: The quintessential private detective, Spade embodies intelligence, perseverance, and a keen eye for detail. His methodical approach and unwavering determination drive the investigation forward.

• Tracy Abbott: As the producer and editor, Abbott plays a pivotal role in guiding Spade through the investigation, balancing professional demands with the unfolding mystery.

• Joseph P. Norgaard: A seemingly respectable lawyer, Norgaard's involvement reveals the pervasive corruption and lengths to which individuals will go to conceal the truth.

• Rosalie: The landlady serves as a critical informant, offering Spade valuable insights while maintaining an air of mystery surrounding her knowledge of the case.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Tracy Abbott [06:08]: "You have 24 hours to find a man for me."

• Sam Spade [07:03]: "She'd taken her last turn under the blue spot around 10:30, left the theater and hustled straight home."

• Sam Spade [29:01]: "Why, sweetheart, that's self-explanatory. The clock said 4, you see. But it was 12. It'll have been dead an hour, which makes it 11. Carry one 1. Subtracting 4 from that leaves 7."

• Sam Spade [27:25]: "He should have studied up on his tape recorders, baby. With a pair of scissors and a good technician, Jimmy's eyewitness account turned into a first-class confession."

• Joseph P. Norgaard [10:59]: "I heard from someone who said he was Biddle. He also said he knew who killed."

---

Conclusion

The Adventures of Sam Spade: Biddle Riddle Caper stands out as a testament to classic detective storytelling. Through intricate plotting, dynamic character interactions, and sharp dialogue, the episode not only entertains but also invites listeners to engage in the mystery alongside Sam Spade. By meticulously piecing together clues and exposing deceit, Spade ensures that justice prevails, leaving audiences satisfied with the resolution of Carol Stevens' tragic fate.

For old-time radio enthusiasts and newcomers alike, this episode offers a compelling glimpse into the art of radio detective fiction, underscored by timeless themes of truth, justice, and the relentless pursuit of answers.

Transcript

[Fred]

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[Talkspace Sponsor]

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. May is mental health awareness month, and Talkspace, the leading virtual therapy provider, is telling everyone, let's face it in therapy by talking or texting with a supportive licensed therapist at Talkspace, you can face whatever is holding you back. Whether it's mental health symptoms, relationship drama, past trauma, bad habits or another challenge that you need support to work through, it's easy to sign up. Just go to talkspace.com and you'll be paired with a provider, typically within 48 hours.

[Tracy Abbott]

And can you?

[Talkspace Sponsor]

And because you'll meet your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule. Plus, Talkspace is in network with most major insurers and most insured members have a zero dollar copay. Make your mental health a priority and start today. If you're not covered by Insurance, get $80 off your first month with Talkspace when you go to talkspace.com and enter promo code SPACE80. That's S P A CE83. To match with a licensed therapist today, go to talkspace.com and Enter promo code SPACE80. Welcome to Choice Classic Radio where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube and thank you for donating.

[William Spear]

@Choiceclassicradio.Com the National Broadcasting Company presents the adventures of Sam Spade. Detective.

[Sam Spade]

Sam State Detective Agency Me Sweetheart.

[Effie]

Sam, where have you been? I don't know what to tell them.

[Sam Spade]

Tell who?

[Effie]

The reporters. Everybody. They all say you're the first private detective in the history of San Francisco to get rich. Honestly. Oh, Sam. When I think of all the back salary I'll be getting. The fur coats.

[Sam Spade]

Easy, girl, easy. Prepare yourself, Sam.

[William Spear]

Yep.

[Sam Spade]

You mean the $50,000 is not available to employees of the network or sponsor, which, unfortunately, I happen to be. But cheer up, girl. Think of the taxes we'll save now. Make everything fast. I'm on my way. Meanwhile, puzzle me this. You ready?

[Effie]

All right, Sam.

[Sam Spade]

Why does a man who is going to blow his brains out set his mantle clock ahead four Hours, then.

[Effie]

That doesn't make sense.

[Sam Spade]

Ah, but it does. Mul and ponder, sweetheart. I'll be down in a trice. 1951 model with an intellectual type report to challenge serious thinkers everywhere. To wit, the Biddle Riddle Caper. Foreign.

[William Spear]

William Spear, radio's outstanding Producer, Director of Mystery and crime drama brings you the greatest private detective of them all in the Adventures of Sam Spade.

[Sam Spade]

All alone by the microphone. Seems if he.

[Effie]

Sam, I just can't get anywhere with this.

[Sam Spade]

Never kick on the third down, cherub. Give it another try.

[Effie]

It's no use, Sam. I'm mentally through.

[Sam Spade]

Well, you know best.

[Effie]

I just give up. Sam.

[Sam Spade]

Huh?

[Effie]

What are those funny little bumps on your cheek?

[Sam Spade]

Go ahead, guess.

[Effie]

Small box plague.

[Sam Spade]

You're getting warm.

[Effie]

Look like little waffle marks.

[Sam Spade]

That's what happens when somebody hits you with a microphone, sweetheart. Now, if you look closer, just above the marks under my eye, clearly and distinctly in reverse, of course, the three letters of a network known far and wide for its hospitality to unemployed private detectives.

[Effie]

You mean.

[Sam Spade]

Shh. Not here, girl. Poise the pencil. Who knows? A sponsor may be listening. Ready? Yes, sir. To Mr. Tracy Abbott, Drake Carlton Hotel. Copy to Dundee at Homicide. From Samuel Spade, license number 137596. Subject, the Biddle Riddle Caper. Dear Tracy, it had a nice conventional start, this one. A nice conventional phone call telling me to drop up to room 402 of the Drake Carlton around three in the afternoon. But when I got there, I found that over the nice conventional number on the door was hung a temporary sign reading Olympic Radio Productions. Tracy Abbott, editor, director and producer. Bidding farewell to the nice conventional part, I made bold to enter the door. Abbott, 5 foot 8 of solid Hollywood, was waltzing with what I took to be a musician, composer or some such.

[Tracy Abbott]

We open coal bunny like this. Now, killer at large, banging with the theme. Theme. A great big wonderful chord there, bunny.

[Murgus]

Check.

[Tracy Abbott]

Check. And then the teaser quote. Don't go away. You out there, stick right close to that radio set of yours because the next half hour might put things. $50,000 in your pocket. Yes, $50,000 will be paid by the sponsors of this program for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a killer at large tonight. That's it. Sustain the cord. Tonight, the murder of Tremolo.

[Sam Spade]

Tremolo.

[Tracy Abbott]

Tonight, the murder of Carol Stevens. Then.

[Sam Spade]

Da, da.

[Tracy Abbott]

Deep.

[Sam Spade]

Check.

[Tracy Abbott]

What's that? Cymbal crash? Do it again. Don't need it. Check, Check. Big, wonderful. Lush. That's the word. Lush. With scope and sweeping power. I got it. Well, I'll get As lush as I can with eight pieces. Scope, sweep, importance. Gotta sound important. Check.

[Sam Spade]

Check. Oh. Oh, I'm Sam Spade, Mr. Rabbit.

[Tracy Abbott]

Ah, yes, yes, Spade. Glad to see you. Please sit down. No, on the other hand, you'd better stand up. No time to lose. You have 24 hours to find a man for me.

[Sam Spade]

Well, that's pretty short notice.

[Tracy Abbott]

How? Mr. S.P. killer at large is real. We keep a sensitive finger on the pulse of the people.

[Sam Spade]

Well, that's nice.

[Tracy Abbott]

We deal in real facts, real people, real crimes and real criminals. Check.

[Sam Spade]

Just how do you do this? How do you accomplish all this on the radio budget of today?

[Tracy Abbott]

Now, you see before you spay the mechanical marvel which makes this possible. The tape recorder. You're familiar with the tape recorder?

[Sam Spade]

Oh, more or less.

[Tracy Abbott]

Check. Tomorrow night at 9pm BST with the aid of the tape recorder, we shall reconstruct one of San Francisco's more sensational unsolved crimes. The murder of Carol Stevens.

[Sam Spade]

You mean the Burlesque Dane, three years ago.

[Tracy Abbott]

Two years, eight months and 29 days. You remember much about it?

[Sam Spade]

Let me see. She turned up dead on the floor of her apartment, didn't she, Jack?

[Tracy Abbott]

Victim of the well known blunt instrument. In this case, a bronze bookend carrying the base relief of Abraham Lincoln. Much ado. Much ado. Headlines by the Yard, a parade of witnesses, but no arrests, period.

[Sam Spade]

Fine. Now, what about me?

[Tracy Abbott]

Our show, Spade, is made up of the simple, honest, spontaneous statements of the witnesses themselves. We're set on this one. Except for one man, the most important one in the case, of course.

[Sam Spade]

Who's that?

[Tracy Abbott]

Jimmy Biddle. The doorman at the Broadway Burlesque at the time the Stevens girl was killed. Knew her. Some say he loved her. Top suspect until he came up with an alibi. Our advance men have combed the city for two weeks trying to find him, but no luck.

[Sam Spade]

Oh, he's born, Tom.

[Tracy Abbott]

That's what I thought until this morning.

[Sam Spade]

You mean you've heard from him?

[Tracy Abbott]

I heard from someone who said he was Biddle. He also said he knew who killed.

[Sam Spade]

Carol Stevens and he wanted the 50,000.

[Tracy Abbott]

Right? I mean, check.

[Sam Spade]

Oh, fair enough. Well, that's what you advertise, isn't it?

[Tracy Abbott]

Not to people who hang up when you get curious. If it was Biddle, I've got to record his story. I want him here by 8 tomorrow night. Check.

[Sam Spade]

Well, since you keep bringing it up. Check. Yes, you can make it out for 100 bucks at Homicide. I case the files on the Stevens thing. San Francisco's answer to the Black Dahlia. A Cheap killing of a cheap dame in a cheap apartment that used a lot of expensive newsprint. She'd taken her last turn under the blue spot around 10:30, left the theater and hustled straight home. Because at 11 sharp, according to the neighbor across the hall, someone had tried the Abraham Lincoln bookend on Carol for size. She hit the floor just as the 11 o' clock news came on. Biddle's alibi had to be good. And it was. It came, as a matter of fact, from the greatest little alibi factory in town. Biddle was drinking old fashions with Joseph P. Norgaard, the well known criminal lawyer at the time of the killing. So I trotted over to Norgaard's office on Market street, found him tied up and settled down in the waiting room next to a gimlet eyed youth in a neon striped suit who looked like he made a living sticking up crap games. He was filing his nails.

[Tracy Abbott]

Buddy?

[Sam Spade]

Yeah, buddy?

[Tracy Abbott]

You. You sure you're in the right office, buddy?

[Sam Spade]

Positive, buddy.

[Tracy Abbott]

I just thought I might save you some trouble, that's all. Sam Spade, ain't it?

[Sam Spade]

You're a smart kid.

[Tracy Abbott]

I try hard. I still think you'd be wise to blow.

[Sam Spade]

You know, this is quite a turn you do, Buddy. Study nights with Richard Widmark.

[Tracy Abbott]

Sam, I told you I want to save you a bad time. You're a nice guy.

[Sam Spade]

Thank you.

[Tracy Abbott]

Must be a lot of things you can do around town to make a buck without coming here.

[Murgus]

Now, why don't you lift it out of that chair? I'm not going to do it, Mr. Norgart. And that's fine with.

[Tracy Abbott]

I'll get with you later.

[Sam Spade]

Bye, Buddy. The guy who bustled out of Norgaard's office was flabby, florid and frightened. Penstripe gave me a last baleful look and sidled out into the hall after him. Which was nice because I was running out of punchlines.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Luke, I thought I told you to.

[Sam Spade]

Oh, Mr. Norgaard, I am. I'm sorry to barge in. My name's Spade. I'm a private detective.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Of course you are. And a hungry one.

[Sam Spade]

Well, we're polite in here, too. Why do you say that?

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

You're the fourth today. I'm about to prepare a mimeograph statement entitled what I Know about the Stevens Case or you too can make $50,000 like a copy.

[Sam Spade]

You know, I can't remember when I've been treated so nice. What do you know about the Stevens case, Mr. Norgaard?

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

It's all in the homicide file. On the fateful night I ran into Jimmy Biddle as I was coming out of a bar in Chinatown. He'd hit the skids, but he used to be a useful friend. So I asked him up to my apartment for a drink, sat him in a chair, made him an Old fashioned, loaned him five bucks and hustled him out. Total elapsed time, 45 minutes from 10:45 to 11:30pm and that is all I have to say at this time.

[Sam Spade]

Have you seen Biddle since?

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Not since the investigation. I don't know where he is now, and I don't know who killed Carroll Stevens, period, paragraph.

[Sam Spade]

Do you think Jimmy knows who killed him? Maybe he says he does.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Oh. Where did you see him?

[Sam Spade]

He's hungry, too. We work the same breadline.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

I'm sorry I said that, Spade. Who are you working for?

[Sam Spade]

Olympic Radio Productions. Killer at large.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Yes. They want me to come to the studio tonight and record a statement for them. I. I wonder if I ought to tell them what I really think.

[Sam Spade]

What's that?

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

About Biddle. There's no point in talking around it anymore. I think he killed her.

[Sam Spade]

Well, that's a neat trick if he was drinking your liquor at the time.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Oh, I think he did it after he left my place. Two things placed. The time of death, the medical examiner's report, which could be off as much as three hours, and the neighbor who thinks he heard the girl fall as the news came on. How reliable is that?

[Sam Spade]

Well, they usually think of those things during an investigation, but they didn't think hard enough. You.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

You say you talk, too, Biddle.

[Sam Spade]

He called my client.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Why?

[Sam Spade]

He had 50,000 good reasons, according to him. You know, funny things happen when the dough gets into it. Bought people don't stay bought. Lost people get found.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Yeah, well, I've told you all I know, Spade, if you're. No more questions.

[Sam Spade]

Just one more. Who's the little weasel in the pinstripe?

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

You mean Luke?

[Murgus]

Yeah.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

I put him out there to scare off the hungry ones. Nothing to do with you.

[Sam Spade]

And the fat character he's tailing has nothing to do with me either, huh?

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

You really want to know?

[Sam Spade]

Love to.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

He's a pastry cook. I'm representing his wife in a divorce action. Thinks he's Gazanova.

[Sam Spade]

Pressure cooker, eh? Shoving Norgard Pinstripe and the flabby pastry cook in the lookup later section of my hat band. I took off for Biddle's last known address, a boarding house on Pacific Avenue. There I held hands with the landlady long enough to learn that a she hadn't seen Biddle since a few weeks after the murder. But B, when last heard of Biddle, had gone on from the burlesque dame to something even more extremely female. According to the landlady named Rosalie, understand.

[Effie]

She'S working on the line at the Pacific Ballroom. Red hair, blue eyes and Boom boom get me?

[Sam Spade]

I got you. Pacific Ballroom, eh? Would you do that last again, Boom Boom? Yeah, just checking. Thanks, Mrs. Landlady. Hello.

[Rosalie]

Hi. Am I the lucky girl?

[Sam Spade]

You look like your name ought to be Rosalie.

[Rosalie]

Oh, you're psychic. Got your tickets?

[Sam Spade]

Here. Let me. Let me know when they're used up, huh?

[Rosalie]

Don't worry. Hey, you know, you're a pretty good dancer.

[Sam Spade]

Arthur Murray, class of 1906. Only I. I didn't come here to dance.

[Rosalie]

Oh?

[Sam Spade]

I'm looking for Jimmy Biddle. You know him?

[Rosalie]

Yeah. Yeah, I know. You a cop?

[Sam Spade]

Not exactly.

[Rosalie]

Oh, what's the difference? Cop or no cop, you'll find him one of these days.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Where?

[Rosalie]

In the bay, maybe, or the morgue. He knows it. That's the funny part. He knows it and he can't do anything about it. He's got him.

[Sam Spade]

Rosalie, baby, look. I'm out.

[Rosalie]

That's enough, Papa. Jimmy, let's dance, huh? That's what you're paying for, isn't it? Well, come on.

[Sam Spade]

Where is he?

[Rosalie]

You're wasting your time. I. I won't sell them out. I'm through with them, but I won't sell them out.

[Effie]

Ah, here.

[Rosalie]

Here's your ticket.

[Sam Spade]

I sauntered over to the soft drink fountain and mulled the problem over a Coke for a minute or two. There are ways of dealing with dames like Rosalie. Some of them are a little cruel, as this one was going to have to be. But time was of the essence. I kept out of sight for 20 minutes or so, watching her dancing in the arms of a moonstruck plumber and sidle into a phone booth. The Pacific Ballroom does not permit telephone conversations while the girls are working. When I said it was the police, the plumber was turned over to a new candidate. And Rosalie came to the phone.

[Effie]

Hello?

[Sam Spade]

This is Sam Spade. Rosalie, I was dancing with you a little while ago.

[Rosalie]

What is it?

[Sam Spade]

I. I found Jimmy Biddle's apartment.

[Rosalie]

Oh. What's the matter? He's hurt?

[Sam Spade]

That's right.

[Rosalie]

That.

[Sam Spade]

I'm afraid so. He wants to see you.

[Rosalie]

Okay. I'll be right over.

[Sam Spade]

She didn't stop for a raft, just plowed a zigzag furrow through the mob of the main door and climbed into a cab. At the curb. The driver must have been an old fan of hers because they were almost out of sight by the time my cab got rolling. And that's the way it was. Across Market street and all the way out. Van Nest, the marina. Her cab was pulled up in front of an apartment on Jefferson street and she'd just gotten out when we slid in behind them. Hiya. You want to go up together?

[Rosalie]

But you said you.

[Sam Spade]

I'm sorry, honey. I know it was a dirty trick, but now that's no way to be you.

[Murgus]

Shut up.

[Sam Spade]

The gold card holder by the doorbell listed the tenant as W.R. smith. Mr. Smith was evidently not home. The lady manager in the apartment next to his was. And after the usual license showing and more than the usual sweep, she came up with a key. Biddle wasn't wealthy, but he wasn't hungry either. Place had the well fixed man about town look, right down to the last crystal martini glass in the portable bar in the living room. Next to it was a mahogany desk in which were sundry checkbooks and deposit slips indicating Biddle had found a prosperous widow or had been doing rather well at canasta. A clock chimed four in the next room. Since it was after 10, I wondered why went in to take a look. Maybe I was psychic like the girl said. There was a tape recorder against one wall. The same kind I'd seen in your office, Tracy, with a microphone and a roll of tape in it, half used up. Holding the microphone with one hand was Jimmy Biddle. In the other hand a.38. He wasn't hurt. As I'd told her he was dead.

[William Spear]

You are listening to the weekly adventure of radio's most famous detective, Sam Spade. This Sunday there's another outstanding production by Theater Guild on the air. It's a one hour adaptation of the thrilling tale of intrigue in post war Vienna. The third man, Joseph Cotton and Senior Haso star in this Theater Guild on the air broadcast. And Sunday over most of these NBC stations also means the big show. An hour and a half of the finest in comedy, music and drama. Tallulah will be your hostess. And just listen to a few of the stars. Fred Allen, Marlene Dietrich, Danny Thomas and Fran Warren. There'll be many more too, so tune in this Sunday and every Sunday for the big show. And now back to the Biddle Riddle Caper. Tonight's adventure with Sam Spade.

[Sam Spade]

In accordance with Chapter 5 of the Private detectives manual entitled how to keep your license, I called homicide and gave him the facts and figures, then went back to the study. Jimmy Biddle was surrounded by props, like part one of a photo crime puzzle. I carefully reached over his shoulder and pressed the button on the tape recorder.

[Jimmy Biddle]

My name's Jimmy Biddle. The DA will remember me. We saw a lot of each other during the week after Carol Stevens hit the deck in her apartment three years ago at just about this time of night. I fooled him then. I could probably go on fooling him. But I'm tired of it. I'm tired of living this way. So here it is. I knew Carol Stevens well. I was crazy about her. And I was jealous, too. That's why I killed her. Thought I could go on and on playing hide and go seek for the rest of my life. But sooner or later, this kind of thing gets too heavy to peck around. You gotta get rid of it one way or another.

[Talkspace Sponsor]

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. May is Mental health Awareness Month, and Talkspace, the leading virtual therapy provider, is telling everyone let's face it in therapy, by talking or texting with a supportive licensed therapist at Talkspace, you can face whatever is holding you back, whether it's mental health symptoms, relationship drama, past trauma, bad habits or another challenge that you need support to work through. It's easy to sign up. Just go to talkspace.com and you'll be paired with a provider, typically within 48 hours. And because you'll meet your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule. Plus, Talkspace is in network with most major insurers and most Insured members have a $0 copay. Make your mental health a priority and start today. If you're not covered by insurance, get $80 off your first month with Talkspace when you go to talkspace.com and enter promo code SPACE80. That's S P A CE80 to match with a licensed therapist today. Go to talkspace.com and enter Promo Code SPACE80.

[Sam Spade]

Period. End of report. I rousted the landlady again and we went over the room together. A helpful type landlady, she contributed a thousand odd bits of gossip about Jimmy Biddle, only one of which struck me as interesting. She'd come in this morning, she said, to clean his apartment, and among other things, had wound and set the eight day clock on the mantle, the same clock, which was now exactly four hours fast. Looking closer at the tape recorder, I saw a small label pasted above one of the knobs reading Murgas and Reed recording technicians. Next scene, the manufacturing section of Sansom Street, a five story building all dark at this hour, except for a light in the office on the second floor back, which happily turned out to be the one Burgess read. Anybody? Hello.

[Murgus]

What do you want?

[Sam Spade]

Well, a pastry cook.

[Murgus]

I. I'm sorry, we're closed. You see, office hours nine to five.

[Sam Spade]

Now, wait a minute. Just a minute. Pastry cook.

[Murgus]

I'm. I'm not a pastry cook, sir. My name is Murgus. I am one of the proprietors here. Just a moment, sir.

[Sam Spade]

I must. Sorry, it was getting cold out in the hall. So you're Murgus, huh?

[Murgus]

I am. And I don't care who you are. I know all about it, sir. I know it wasn't a practical joke.

[Sam Spade]

What wasn't a practical joke?

[Murgus]

That tape. You can march right back to the man you're working for and tell him he can't buy me off. Is that clear?

[Sam Spade]

Not very.

[Murgus]

There's no use denying it. I saw you in his office this afternoon when he. When he threatened me. Get down.

[Sam Spade]

Merger.

[Murgus]

What is it?

[Sam Spade]

I crawled out on the fire escape in time to see my buddy in the pinstripe suit hit the bottom. The alley, praise be, was blind at one end, so Luke took off toward the street. I caught him in one leg. He stumbled, fell, smacked his head against the brick wall of the alley and took the count. I was frisking him when a prowl cop who heard the shots moved up. I convinced him I wasn't rolling a drunk and left him to run back upstairs. Marcus.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Mar.

[Sam Spade]

I better get you to a hospital.

[Murgus]

Who. Who are you?

[Sam Spade]

Sam Spade. I don't work for Nor Guard right now. I'm trying to hang a murder wrap on him.

[Murgus]

Told me it was a practical joke, a gag. What tape? Jimmy Biddle tape.

[Sam Spade]

Jimmy rented the machine from you and made the tape himself, right?

[Murgus]

Yes. He.

[Sam Spade]

He.

[Murgus]

Norgard.

[Sam Spade]

What about Norgaard?

[Murgus]

Tried to beat me into it. Beat me, Beat me. Wouldn't give it to him.

[Sam Spade]

Give what?

[Tracy Abbott]

Hyper tape.

[Murgus]

No, no. Hyper.

[Tracy Abbott]

Hyper.

[Sam Spade]

He tried to point to the desk as he passed out. And so to this already bubbling stew. We had a crucial typewriter. While waiting for the ambulance, I cased it and found nothing. Then stuck a piece of paper into it and began to type. Four quick brown foxes that jumped over four lazy dogs. When the sound changed, I looked closer, then tackled. A messy job I always leave to my secretary. I hate to play with typewriter ribbons, but this wasn't a typewriter ribbon, since said ribbon had come to an end and I was pecking away at a piece of sound tape. Come on, Rosalie.

[Rosalie]

I don't want to talk.

[Sam Spade]

Look, come on. My feet are even more tired than they were an hour ago. Okay, you first. All right. Now.

[Rosalie]

I'm sorry, mister. Say, I thought you were lying when you said Jimmy was hurting.

[Sam Spade]

Look, let's not go into that now. He was blackmailing Norgaard, right?

[Rosalie]

I don't even know who Norgaard is.

[Sam Spade]

You know Jimmy was shaking someone down, didn't you?

[Rosalie]

I never knew where he got his. I just know it was dirty money. He'd laugh and say he was living high, but not saloon.

[Sam Spade]

He never mentioned nor guy.

[Rosalie]

No, he just said he was going to make $50,000 in a radio program.

[Sam Spade]

Did he say how?

[Rosalie]

Singing? I thought he was kidding. Then he showed up with that tape recording.

[Sam Spade]

Well, he wasn't kidding. Then what?

[Rosalie]

He wanted to be alone. He said he was going to make an audition and send it to a sponsor.

[Sam Spade]

That's where he made the mistake. He sent it to the wrong sponsor. He figured he hit Norgaard for the biggest touch of all. Thought hearing it might make him dig deeper. So he recorded his statement, sent it to Norgaard for a sample. But there was something he didn't think of.

[Rosalie]

What do you mean?

[Sam Spade]

He should have studied up on his tape recorders, baby. With a pair of scissors and a good technician, Jimmy's eyewitness account turned into a first class confession. The final phase of the Biddle riddle was, as you will recall, Tracy, enacted on one of the sound stages of the nation's leading network, where, as you will also recall, you were busily transcribing the testimony of various witnesses on the Carol Stevens case. How you got him there, I'll never know. But there he was, as big and legal looking as ever, perjuring himself once more into one of your microphones.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

I walked out of the twin dragon on Grant Avenue. As I remember it now, Biddle was across the street. He apparently recognized me, though.

[Sam Spade]

Excuse me, will you, fellas?

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

What?

[Tracy Abbott]

Hey, you idiot. You ruined it.

[Sam Spade]

I'm sorry, Tracy.

[Tracy Abbott]

Oh, we'll have to start it over again.

[Sam Spade]

Mr. Norgart, would you mind if I record a few remarks?

[Tracy Abbott]

Spade, please understand my position. Biddle's confession has changed everything. I know the killer is not at large. 24 hours we spent recording the show. Now it'll all have to be done over again.

[Sam Spade]

Sorry.

[Tracy Abbott]

These people at this house.

[Sam Spade]

Listen, Tracy.

[Tracy Abbott]

All right, Spade, what is it?

[Sam Spade]

I'm only trying to help. Now, where's Biddle's confession?

[Tracy Abbott]

On the machine there. We're going to dub it onto the main tape.

[Sam Spade]

Good. Now, be a good Lad and show me where. You're starting to stop it, huh?

[Tracy Abbott]

Right there.

[Sam Spade]

Okay.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

What is this speech?

[Sam Spade]

This is going to interest you, Mr. Norgaard. Now let us turn to the tape, keeping our eyes on the spool as it slowly feeds. Jimmy Biddle's last statement.

[Jimmy Biddle]

My name's Jimmy Biddle. The DA will remember me. We saw a lot of each other during the week after Carroll Stevens hit the deck in our apartment three years ago at just about this time of night. I fooled him then. I could probably go on fooling him. But I'm tired of it. I'm tired of living this way. So here it is. I knew Carol Stevens well. I was crazy about it. And I was jealous, too. That's why.

[Sam Spade]

Ike, there's a riddle for you. Norgaard. He said the girl died, quote, at just about this time of night. But the clock struck three times. We know she died at 11. What happened to the other eight chimes spay.

[Tracy Abbott]

This is no time.

[Sam Spade]

Be patient with me, Tracy. What about it, Norgaard?

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

Well, how do I know? The man was crazy, maybe.

[Sam Spade]

No, no, no, no. He wasn't crazy. Stupid, but not crazy. So we take this spool of tape off and put this one.

[Joseph P. Norgaard]

What's that?

[Sam Spade]

This is the part that was cut out. Got it from the guy who did the splicing job for you, thinking it was a practical joke or something.

[Tracy Abbott]

Sam, do you know what you're saying?

[Sam Spade]

Yeah, but Biddle says it better. The last thing we heard was I was crazy about her. And I was jealous, too. That's why I killed her. Only he didn't say killed her, just that's why I.

[Jimmy Biddle]

Standing outside in the hallway of her apartment tonight, she died. I'd seen her leave the theater with a guy I recognized. I followed him home to her place, heard the argument, everything. But I had no idea he'd kill her until I heard her hit the floor. Door busted open then, and he came out looking like a crazy man. He didn't even see me. Just ran down the back stairs as fast as he could go. I went in and saw her lying on the floor, dead. I could have killed him then, but I thought of something better. He's good. Pay the cash. Comes right on time. But I'm tired of living this way. So there's the story. The man who killed Carol Stevens.

[Sam Spade]

Which is as far as Biddle's got, since Norgaard had grabbed a stand mic and slammed it into the recording machine in the rhubarb, which followed. He also slammed it into my face, which is why I Carry the imprint of the nation's number one network just below my right eye. So that's about the crop. Tracy Norgaard and Pinstripe now lie cheek by jowl in the jail hospital trying to think of an honest lawyer who'll defend him. While you, Tracy, with a third round of interviews before you are considering tossing out Carol Stevens and doing the shooting of Dan McGrew. Period. End of report.

[Effie]

Damn. How unfortunate.

[Sam Spade]

Unfortunate?

[Effie]

He never got to explain about the clock. It was four hours back.

[Sam Spade]

Why, sweetheart, that's self explanatory. The clock said 4, you see. But it was 12. It'll have been dead an hour, which makes it 11. Carry one 1. Subtracting 4 from that leaves 7.

[Effie]

7.

[Sam Spade]

And assuming he'd been there an hour before, that makes six.

[Effie]

Damn, what relentless logic. Just like Ellery Queen.

[Sam Spade]

Effie. On this program, we do not plug rival products. Now go and type that up while I figure this out.

[Murgus]

Scoot, scoot.

[Effie]

Yes.

[William Spear]

Three chimes mean good times on NBC. There's mystery in music. Every Saturday on NBC. For Mystery Tomorrow, Herbert Marshall stars as the Man Called X. The Man Called X is a man without a name who travels the world over combating the forces of international espionage and intrigue. For Music Tomorrow, your hit parade brings you the top tunes in the land, played by Raymond Scott's orchestra and with vocals by Snooki Lanson and Eileen Wilson.

[Effie]

Here it is, Sam.

[Sam Spade]

Thank you, dear one. I see by the furrows in your brow that you have not as yet solved the matter of the missing child.

[Effie]

Or why Norgaard set the clock ahead when he shot Jimmy Biddle.

[Sam Spade]

How to approach this? You realize Norgaard cut a hunk out of the tape removing Biddle's eyewitness account, setting him up as a suicide. Right. Don't make me change my grip, though. Biddle, by his own statement, made the recording at the time of the murder of Carol Stevens. To wit, 11 o' clock. Now, in cutting out the crucial words, Norgaard also had to cut out eight chimes. This, he realized, would be noticed. So we set the clock ahead to make the number of chimes jibe. Chimes, jive. Chimes, jive.

[Tracy Abbott]

Nice ring, Sam.

[Effie]

Will it be all right with you if I just say I understand when I really don't?

[Sam Spade]

Sure, sweetheart.

[Effie]

I'll just type and answer the phone. And you use your feet and your.

[Sam Spade]

Head and together we'll end up, I know, with.

[Effie]

Good night, Sam.

[Sam Spade]

Good night, sweetheart.

[William Spear]

The Adventures of Sam Spade are produced, edited and directed by William Speer. Sam Spade was played by Stephen Dunn. Lorene Tuttle as Effie. Script for tonight's adventure by Harold Swanton. Musical scoring by Lud Gluskin, conducted by Robert Armbruster. Join us again next week, same time, for another adventure with Sam Spade. Enjoy the Magnificent Montague, then Duffy's Tavern on NBC.