The Adventures of Sam Spade: The Dry Martini Caper 08/01/1948

Summary

The Adventures of Sam Spade: The Dry Martini Caper (08/01/1948)

Episode Overview

This classic episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade follows the titular private detective as he unravels “The Dry Martini Caper”—a twisty case involving murder, deception, and the illusion of a man’s alcoholism. The mystery deepens around a high-profile corporate executive, Gordon Martini, whose apparent abduction leads to a surprising chain of events, exposing secrets among his wife, his chauffeur, and his business associates. Sam Spade’s investigation reveals that sometimes, the deadliest capers are orchestrated by the victim themselves.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Aftermath of a Would-be Kidnapping

• Opening Banter: The episode opens with Sam chatting with his loyal secretary, Effie, using rapid-fire and playful slang about cocktails and nightlife, which points to the “Dry Martini” theme. (03:41)
• Introduction of the Case: Sam references a news article about Gordon Martini, head of Martini Trading Company, purportedly assaulted and nearly kidnapped at his office. The story seems sensationalized, but Sam is hired shortly after by Martini himself. (04:46)

2. The Murder on Marina Boulevard

• Sam meets Martini, who is agitated about punctuality and disciplined to the second. Their meeting is cut short when Martini is suddenly gunned down by an assailant hiding in the back of his own limousine. Sam is nearly killed too but manages to glimpse the getaway car’s partial license plate: 5D9. (06:55-07:32)
• Effie, Martini’s wife, is hysterical but quickly reveals layers of guilt and tangled relationships, including her call to the chauffeur, Ernie—and a subplot involving some misplaced lingerie. (08:32)
• The police show up, and Sam provides his statement. The gray sedan with plate 5D9 becomes the central clue. (09:55-10:45)

3. The Tangle of Alibis and Suspicions

• Effie, Martini’s wife, shares details about Martini's supposed drinking problems, frequent fainting spells, and how his alcohol use became a cover for various incidents—including the night before, when Martini was reportedly attacked. (13:03)
• The conversation hints that Martini’s “drunkenness” may have been staged or misunderstood, and Effie confides suspicions regarding Mary Callahan, an attorney, possibly manipulating Martini. She also reveals her own car—a gray sedan matching the getaway car—had been used and damaged that morning. (14:39-15:02)

4. The Corporate Web: Callahan and Nesbitt

• Sam visits Martini Trading Company to confront both vice president Nesbitt and attorney Callahan, discovering deep mutual distrust, accusations of embezzlement, and legal manipulations over company shares and insurance policies. (17:26-19:09)
  • Quote—Nesbitt (Accusing Callahan):
    “For years this moth-eaten mouthpiece, this parboiled Portia, has been victimizing poor Gordon, taking advantage of his weakness for drink. Now … she appears with 55% of the common stock. Motive enough, eh?”
    (18:32)
  • Callahan reveals the insurance beneficiary had been changed from Martini’s wife to the company itself.

5. The Professional Killer

• Tracking the lead from the forged check, Sam finds “Hack” Hartman—the hitman—in a seedy hotel. Under duress, Hartman confesses to being hired to kill Martini (or, as he claims, his twin brother), paid with a check signed by Martini himself. (21:27-22:45)
  • Quote—Hack Hartman:
    “He wanted I should knock off his brother.”
    (22:45)
  • The “brother” is a lie, and all evidence points back to Martini faking elements of his own demise.

6. The Final Twist: The Self-Liquidating Caper

• Sam discovers, via the city morgue, that Martini suffered from a brain tumor, was not actually intoxicated—the infamous martinis were colored water—and that Martini orchestrated his own murder to ruin those around him, including his wife and associates. The $1,000 hitman’s check bounced, and the insurance would not pay due to the self-orchestrated “suicide.” (23:55-26:35)
  • Quote—Sam Spade:
    “He wanted to ruin you. He let Mary Callahan fleece him out of his interest in the company. He let Nesbitt juggle the books. He let you go your way with Ernie. He let all three of you fix yourselves up with as nice a set of motives for murder as a jury could ask for.”
    (26:04)

7. Denouement and Dark Humor

• Effie and Sam reflect on the case’s bleak resolution—no one gets what they wanted, and Sam’s own detective fee is likely uncollectable.
  • Quote—Effie:
    “Oh, it bounced.”
    (29:13)
• The episode closes with their trademark affectionate bickering and Effie suggesting a new career for Sam in ceramics after all the trouble. (29:32-29:57)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Effie, on the convoluted relationships and motives:
  “If his alibi is too good, I might have trouble about that car being in the backseat of my car.” (14:25)
• Sam, upon learning about the colored-water martinis:
  “The martinis were colored water.” (25:40)
• Effie, realizing the check bounced:
  “Well, it bounced.” (29:13)
• Sam’s closing line:
  “Good night and sue me for your back salary, sweetheart.” (30:01)

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Important Timestamps

• 03:41 — Sam and Effie’s playful banter introduces the case and sets the noir tone.
• 06:55 — The murder of Gordon Martini and Sam’s first brush with death in the case.
• 14:15 — Effie’s confession about the gray sedan and links to the crime.
• 18:32 — Corporate confrontation where motivations come to the fore.
• 21:27 — Sam interrogates Hack Hartman, revealing the contract killing.
• 25:40 — The revelation that Martini was not drunk but terminally ill, and had engineered his own murder.
• 29:13 — Effie notes Sam’s payment check has bounced.
• 30:01 — Episode closes with Sam’s characteristic dry humor.

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Episode Tone and Style

• Language & Style: The script is full of witty noir banter, loaded with double entendre and period slang, bringing 1940s detective fiction to vibrant life. Dialogue is rapid, clever, and laced with both affection and cynicism.
• Atmosphere: Hard-boiled, with a blend of dark intrigue and comedic undertones, typical of Sam Spade adventures.

---

Conclusion

“The Dry Martini Caper” is as dry and complex as its namesake, blending a sharp critique of human motivations with a playful, sardonic wit. The case—beginning as a routine murder—builds into a tragic, carefully planned act of self-destruction, leaving everyone involved permanently changed and Sam Spade both richer in wisdom and poorer in fees. It's classic radio noir at its finest, demonstrating how the truth in Sam Spade’s world is always murkier than it first appears.

Transcript

[Sam Spade]

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[Effie]

Wow.

[Sam Spade]

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[Sam Spade]

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[Effie]

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[Sam Spade]

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[Effie]

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[Sam Spade]

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[Narrator]

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[Effie]

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[Effie]

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[Sam Spade]

My church too.

[Effie]

I love it. I really do.

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[Narrator]

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 [e-mail] 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.

[Effie]

Sam Spade Detective Agency.

[Sam Spade]

Me sweetheart.

[Effie]

Sam, how did it go?

[Sam Spade]

It was the end, Effie, but.

[Effie]

Oh, Sam, not another one of those society things.

[Sam Spade]

Depends on what you mean by society.

[Effie]

Well, you know, Sam. Cafe society. Cocktails for two hands across the table. Make it another Old Fashioned.

[Sam Spade]

Please, let's not lose our head, Abby. Nothing but double martinis. Very dry with two olives, sweetheart.

[Effie]

Two olives. Oh, Sam, isn't that overdoing it?

[Sam Spade]

It was all overdone, sweetheart. That's what cracked it. Now stay right where you are. I'll be right down to mix up my report on the dry martini caper. Get it?

[Narrator]

Dashiell 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 hare. August is always a great vacation month. And for those of you planning to Take your vacation soon. Let me suggest that when you're packing, be sure you include a bottle and a handy tube of Wild Root Cream Oil Hair tonic. For no matter where you go, you can always depend on Wild Root Cream Oil to groom your hair neatly and naturally, relieve dryness and remove loose dandruff. Yes, you can take it with you on your vacation. And you should. Wild Root Cream Oil Hair Tonic. Again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first. And now, with Howard Duff starring a spade, Wild Root brings to the air the greatest private detective of them all in the Adventures of Sam Spade.

[Effie]

You look sober as an owl, wise.

[Sam Spade]

As an owl, sober as a judge. Eph.

[Effie]

Oh. Well, the way you talked on the phone, I thought you drowned the shamrock. Kissed the Black Betty, spliced the main brace, decorated the mahogany, made a Dutch bargain or in a word, gone to give a Chinaman a music lesson.

[Sam Spade]

Effie, I wish you'd spend more time with Harper's Bazaar while I'm gone and less with the thesaurus of slang.

[Effie]

Ah.

[Sam Spade]

Didn't know I could say that. Are you sober?

[Effie]

Well, I've been riding the Choo Choo, drinking Adam's ale, and if you don't believe it, just ask me to walk a chalk.

[Sam Spade]

Okay. Heelsy, toesy, all arms akimbo, eyes glazed.

[Effie]

Yes, Sam.

[Sam Spade]

Oh. Then the tip of the forefinger to the tip of the nose.

[Effie]

Oh. Oh, Sam, it makes me dizzy.

[Sam Spade]

Dizzy Gillespie.

[Effie]

Dizzy Goat.

[Sam Spade]

Oh, Sam. Exactly. And you are not sewn up, shagged, shellacked, shickered, stuccoed tap, shackled, stiffo or real crazy?

[Effie]

Well, you know best, Sam.

[Sam Spade]

Good. Now try this one.

[Effie]

Yes, Prez.

[Sam Spade]

Sitting posture, limbs cruciform.

[Effie]

What?

[Sam Spade]

Cheesecake style. Oh, Sam, that's it. Now, place the notebook just a little higher. Good. Now apply the tip of the pencil to the top of the fool's cap and proceed. Viz.

[Effie]

Viz.

[Sam Spade]

Date, August 1, 1948. To Mrs. Netta Martini, 1000 Marina Boulevard, San Francisco, from Samuel Spade, license number 127596. Subject. Dear Netta, the first I knew of the caper was day before yesterday morning when I saw your husband's picture in the paper. It was one of those lovingly retouched executive type photographs of a man in his late 40s or early 50s, graying at the temples and wearing an embalmed man of distinction. Look. The story was headlined Corporation Head waylaid by Mysterious Assailant Chauffeur. Foils would be kidnappers at offices of Martini Trading Company. The item under it wasn't as Thrilling as the headline sounded. As if he'd been knocked down for his wallet and the attempted kidnapping had been dreamed up by a bored City News reporter. I tossed it into the wastebasket along with my morning mail and went back to the Police Gazette. On page three, the phone rang. Unique Garage. Harry speaking.

[Ernie]

Mr. Spade.

[Sam Spade]

One moment. Who's calling? Gordon Martini. Not Gordon Martini. The corporation head. Waylaid by mysterious assailant, chairman of the board, and there's nothing mysterious about it. Then what are you doing on this phone?

[Ernie]

I can't talk on the phone.

[Sam Spade]

Where are you? In a hospital. I left that pest house this morning. I'm at my residence, 1000 Marina Boulevard. It will take you exactly 20 minutes by cab. You will meet me in front of.

[Narrator]

The building and we'll have our conference.

[Sam Spade]

In my car en route to the office. Where's your office? Downtown, Post Street. Why don't I meet you there? I'm a busy man.

[Ernie]

Have a full calendar.

[Sam Spade]

I'm already late due to all that hospital red tape, but I can fit.

[Narrator]

You under my schedule if you'll hurry.

[Sam Spade]

Now, look alive, man. Well, it's a little early in the morning, but I'm trying hard.

[Narrator]

Good. What will you want for a retainer?

[Sam Spade]

I'll let you know if I decide to take the job.

[Narrator]

Fair enough.

[Sam Spade]

20 minutes, I'll expect you. I should have looked more alive. It took me 2 minutes to get onto the straight, 1 minute to flag down a cabin and 18 minutes to reach your address letter. A total of 21 minutes. As my taxi drew up to the curb in front of the canopied entrance to the corner apartment house at 1000 Marina, I saw your husband pacing indignantly up and down in front of the entrance, pausing only to glare at the outsized chronometer on his left wrist. His gray homburg was perched atop an outsized turban of gauze bandage that decorated his head.

[Narrator]

Ah, are you sweet?

[Sam Spade]

You're exactly 1 minute and 22 seconds late.

[Narrator]

Hours are made of minutes, minutes are made of seconds.

[Sam Spade]

And killing this seemingly negligible interval of time, you have wounded an hour. Oh, I have? Well, I'm sorry. The traffic's pretty heavy out here this hour of the morning. You know, you should have started a minute and 22 seconds earlier. I'm sorry. There was a bore on the telephone. Kept talking about how valuable his time was. Well, don't apologize. Only waste more time. Here's your check, $100. My car's just around the corner. I paid that chauffeur a large Salary, but mustn't keep him waiting. In the meantime, you may as well start earning a fee. I've been earning it for the past 22 minutes and 22 seconds. Wait. Uh huh. I suspected as much.

[Narrator]

You drive a car?

[Sam Spade]

Yeah. You mean one man drives all that?

[Ernie]

I see him. That rascally chauffeur of mine sleep in the back seat.

[Narrator]

All right, come out of there, you.

[Sam Spade]

Hey. Hey.

[Effie]

Watch.

[Sam Spade]

I was behind him and a little to the right. The shock of the rapid fire. 30 caliber slugs lifted him off his feet and knocked him against me. I went down under his 300 pounds of dead weight. By the time I rolled him off of me and got up, the gunman had jumped out of the limousine and into a gray sedan that was double parked alongside in the welter of traffic on the boulevard. I didn't dare risk throwing a shot after him. But I did get the first three numbers of the license plate before it buried itself in a heavy stream of AM commuters. That's when the air changed from exhaust fumes to something out of a Persian garden. I turned and looked for the first time into your Nile green eyes, Netta, and saw you twisting a handkerchief in your pale hands. I might have loved beside the Shalimar, but on Marina Boulevard they look like hysterics dead ahead.

[Effie]

Who did it? You saw him. Don't lie to me. Why don't they come with the ambulance? Why are all those people standing around there staring at. Make them go away.

[Sam Spade]

Stop it, will you? That's better. Now come on over here. Who are you, his wife?

[Effie]

Yes, and it was all my fault. This is the end. I called Ernie out the window and asked him to come upstairs. I wanted him to return some lingerie. They sent the wrong color peach.

[Sam Spade]

Yeah, yeah. Who's Ernie?

[Effie]

He's our chauffeur. I was looking for the exchange slip when we heard the shots. Is he dead this time?

[Sam Spade]

Yeah. Doggo to pieces.

[Effie]

Poor Gordon. He had so many enemies. He didn't drink. Well, you know, people dropped us like flies.

[Sam Spade]

Well, they certainly dropped your husband.

[Effie]

Are you a policeman?

[Sam Spade]

No, but I'll do until the real thing comes along. Which is right now. If I were you, lady, I'd go back upstairs and relax. They'll get to you soon enough.

[Effie]

Yes, I suppose you're right. Poor Gordon. He looks so natural stretched out on the pavement. Yeah, I keep thinking he'll get up and stagger on into the elevator. He didn't drink at all.

[Sam Spade]

Well, go on, will you?

[Effie]

All right on, go. Oh, Ernie.

[Sam Spade]

Where did you go down at the garage? I heard a car driving. Poor Mr. Martini. It's all my fault.

[Effie]

No, Ernie, it's mine. If I only hadn't mislaid that exchange slip.

[Sam Spade]

What?

[Effie]

You know, when I called you out the window to come and get that package.

[Sam Spade]

Oh. Oh, that.

[Ernie]

What do we got here?

[Sam Spade]

Who's the witness? Me. Oh, Spade. Lost another client, huh? Not quite. I hadn't cashed the check yet. Well, they got him anyway.

[Ernie]

All right, clear a spacer there. Let him through with that stretcher.

[Sam Spade]

Step over here out of the crowd, Sam. I want to get that statement. Yeah, okay, Gary, take it down. Got a pencil? Yeah, and I want it back. Let's have it. This guy is Gordon Martini. He headed up a local firm, the Martini Trading Company. Last night he was working late at his office, got boinged, Phoned me this morning. Didn't know why. Thought maybe he wanted a bodyguard. Anyway, he needed one. Gunman was crouched in the back seat of the limousine. Shoved the carbine out when Martini opened the door. Carbine, huh? Didn't get a good look at him. You could see the way it's closed in those side windows. Foreign car, isn't it? Stop drooling. You can't afford one. You getting all this? What about the getaway? Martini fell on top of me. I saw the getaway car on the back of his head. The car was a gray sedan. Back of his head was a standard make, too. Only got the first three digits of license plate. 5D9. 5D9. Anything else? Yeah, give me back my pencil. The Homicide boys want some help. They know my faith. Ever wonder what life is like with a phantom screen? It's magic. It is. Oh, wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

[Effie]

Whoa.

[Sam Spade]

Why is that?

[Effie]

This is amazing.

[Sam Spade]

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[Effie]

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[Sam Spade]

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[Effie]

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[Narrator]

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[Sam Spade]

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[Effie]

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[Sam Spade]

Mr. Spade, this is Martini. Why aren't you and Ernie upstairs getting your alibis shaped up?

[Effie]

Please, I. I can't face the questions just yet. Would it be legal if I just avoided them till I can collect myself?

[Sam Spade]

I don't know about legal, but it might be smart.

[Effie]

Where can we talk?

[Sam Spade]

What do you suggest?

[Effie]

Well, there's a little cocktail lounge up on Lombard where Ernie and I all. I mean, well, it's. It's just around the corner.

[Sam Spade]

Very handy. Let's.

[Effie]

Against my mother's advice. I should have listened, but. Well, that's why I married Mr. Martini.

[Sam Spade]

Well, that brings us up to 1943, and it's only quarter 12.

[Effie]

You're just like him. Always holding a stopwatch over my head.

[Sam Spade]

Always.

[Effie]

Well, he drank, you know.

[Sam Spade]

You told me that.

[Effie]

But it's much more important than you think. He often fell down and bumped his head.

[Sam Spade]

You mean that mysterious assailant that waylaid him last night in his office was.

[Effie]

A double martini, two pitchers, full before dinner, turning. Had to carry him up to his office.

[Sam Spade]

Well, what did he go up there for?

[Effie]

Oh, he had an appointment with the vice president of the firm, Mr. Nesbitt. Something had come up and he wanted Gordon to sign some papers. I don't know what. It wasn't the first time I waited outside in the car. After Ernie had taken him upstairs, he came back to the car and we talked.

[Sam Spade]

Mm. Ernie has alibis. Upstairs, downstairs and all around the house.

[Effie]

Well, then when the others came out and Gordon didn't, Ernie went upstairs to see why.

[Sam Spade]

Others? Mr. Nesbitt and who else?

[Effie]

Mary Callahan, Secretary? No, she's an attorney. And if you think everything was legal between those two. Well. But after all, who am I to call the kettle black?

[Sam Spade]

What are you trying to tell me? That you got him drunk so they could make him sign some papers? That he got himself drunk so he couldn't write his name and that he just got drunk and fell down?

[Effie]

Between you and me, I think she pushed him down a flight of stairs. In his condition, he never remembered.

[Sam Spade]

Why are you putting a finger on the Callahan Danes?

[Effie]

What would you think? He was the last one out of the building.

[Sam Spade]

Why didn't you want to tell all this to the police?

[Effie]

Well, I didn't want to Talk about his drink. Things were bad enough already. That would have been the end.

[Sam Spade]

That's as good an answer as any. What do you want me to do for you?

[Effie]

Prove that she did it and Ernie didn't.

[Sam Spade]

I'll let you take care of Ernie.

[Effie]

Oh, no. I don't want to alibi him unless I have to. He might get the wrong idea.

[Sam Spade]

You mean I've got the wrong idea.

[Effie]

He might think it meant I still care for him. And I don't. I can't stand him anymore, the way he chews those toothpicks. And besides, if his alibi is too good, I might have trouble about that car being in the backseat of my car.

[Sam Spade]

Pardon me? It sounded as if you said you might have trouble about a car being in the backseat of your car.

[Effie]

That's what I said.

[Sam Spade]

Where is your car?

[Effie]

In the garage. But somebody had it out this morning. They scraped the fender coming back in and they ran into the wall. They must have been in an awful hurry.

[Sam Spade]

Tell me, this car yours? It wouldn't be a gray sedan?

[Effie]

Yes.

[Sam Spade]

License number?

[Effie]

Oh, wait a minute. It's on my key ring. Here. 5D9.

[Sam Spade]

That's enough. Why didn't you tell me this before?

[Effie]

Well, I couldn't get up the nerve after I heard you tell that policeman the gun that killed Gordon was a carbine. And the gray sedan and all that. Well, it's the end.

[Sam Spade]

I hoped you were right, but I didn't think so. When I went to look at the gray sedan in your garage, I knew you were wrong. Dead wrong. It was the getaway car, all right. And the carbine, as you know, was proven later to be the one that killed your husband. But Ernie had turned into a very poor suspect indeed. He was hugging the carpet between the front and rear seats, and when I nudged him, he didn't move. He'd been shot at closer range than Gordon Martini, and the killer had used only one slug. It was planted in the base of his brain, which made him not only a very poor suspect, but a very dead one.

[Narrator]

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[Effie]

Martini Trading Company. Good afternoon. I'm sorry, Mr. Nesbitt is in conference. I'll see that he gets your message. Well, what can I do for you?

[Sam Spade]

I would like to see Ms. Callahan.

[Effie]

Ms. Callahan is in conference with Mr. Nesit.

[Sam Spade]

Good. I would like to see them both.

[Effie]

But I have orders not to disturb them.

[Sam Spade]

You do not have to. I will.

[Effie]

Just a minute. You can't go breaking unlike that.

[Ernie]

Yes, and I'll tell you something else you won't ever get away with. Why, everyone in this town knows about your underworld connection.

[Effie]

Why, you doddering old fool.

[Ernie]

When I get through with you, if.

[Effie]

You don't go to the gas chamber for Gordon Martini's murder, you'll wish you mad.

[Ernie]

If I go to the gas chamber, it'll be for killing you, not Gordon.

[Effie]

Oh, you said it. Oh, why didn't I have witnesses here. Ms. Callahan, did you hear that?

[Sam Spade]

You weren't talking loud enough. I didn't hear a thing.

[Ernie]

Well, come on in here and I'll tell you a thing or two. Close that door. Now sit down.

[Sam Spade]

Thanks. I listen better on my feet.

[Ernie]

Oh, so you're the detective Netta Martini employed, eh? What's she paying you?

[Sam Spade]

That'll depend on how much I have to do for her.

[Effie]

Well, I'll tell you how much you'll have to do for her. You'll have to make a case against me and that's not going to be easy.

[Sam Spade]

Why do you think she's out to get you?

[Ernie]

Why indeed. For years this moth eaten mouthpiece, this parboiled Portia, has been victimizing poor Gordon, taking advantage of his weakness for Drake. Now that she's liquidated him, she appears with 55% of the common stock. Motive enough, eh?

[Effie]

Why, you fraudulent old fool. I simply bought up his debts and threw an attachment on those stocks. Unethical, but perfectly legal. Well, you're not even a proper thief. You're nothing but a bumbling old embezzler. Now listen, you had to tell because he was going to call in the auditors. Look over those books of yours. The deed of double entry, Mr. Spade.

[Sam Spade]

Look, look, will you save this for the courtroom scene? Now you've convinced me you're both crooked. I'll see that you both go up for something. That's a promise.

[Ernie]

Oh, Mr. Spade, I gave you credit for better sense. Do you know that this Medusa of the magistrate's court, this harpy of the hall of justice, tricked him into changing the beneficiary of his insurance the very night she pushed him down the stairs? And you were all in favor of.

[Effie]

It when you thought you held a controlling interest in the company. Answer that. You see, Mr. Spade, he can't answer that.

[Sam Spade]

Good, good. I'm glad one of you is temporarily lost for words. Now, I only want to know one thing and I want a straight answer. And if either one of you starts off in another speech, I'm gonna push you into the nearest cloakroom and lock you in together.

[Effie]

Why, you wouldn't dare.

[Sam Spade]

Try me, sweetheart.

[Ernie]

Well, what do you want to know about this Amazon ambulance chaser? This trilby of the traffic corps?

[Sam Spade]

Watch it.

[Effie]

Well, what do you want to know.

[Sam Spade]

About Martini's insurance policy? Now, you say he changed the beneficiary. Please answer in 10 words or less who was the beneficiary and who is the beneficiary?

[Effie]

Now, I'll have to answer that question in two parts. The beneficiary was his wife. He changed it to the Martini Trading Company, a corporation of the State of California.

[Sam Spade]

Thank you and goodbye. Mary Callahan and that Netta took the heat off of you for the time being. Which made things tough for me. Because Callahan and Nesbitt were so horrible I never wanted to see them again. Even to testify against them in court. I was sure of one thing. None of you had pulled the trigger of that carbine. There'd been a hired killer behind it. And the way he operated takes crazy chances. In broad daylight in a crowded street told me an important thing about him. That night I made the rounds of the joints. At a plant called the Bing Room. I found a bouncer who tossed out a customer that run up a bill and tried to pay it with a thousand dollar check. He sent me to the Atlas Hotel. The Atlas Hotel is off of 3rd street, down near the railroad yards. Not even a fleabag. The fleas sickened and died a long time ago. They couldn't take it. And from the look of the guests sprawled out in the mission furniture of the lobby, they wouldn't be able to much longer. A half dead Room clerk came back to the land of the living long enough to mutter a room number and wave me feebly toward a flight of crummy stairs.

[Ernie]

Yeah, what do you want?

[Sam Spade]

You hack Hartman?

[Ernie]

Hey, you got anything for me, huh?

[Sam Spade]

Yeah, I got news for you. Get back in the room. I'll tell you all about it.

[Ernie]

Yeah, well, come on in.

[Sam Spade]

Drop the shiv.

[Ernie]

Yeah, I'll drop it. I'll fix you. I'll cut you good. I'll cut you. I'll cut you.

[Sam Spade]

I'm glad you did that. You make it easy for me. Now get over there.

[Ernie]

Leave me alone. Leave me alone. I'm not feeling so good.

[Sam Spade]

You can feel a lot worse. Who hired you to put the burn on Martini?

[Ernie]

You don't get nothing out of me.

[Sam Spade]

Who gave you that check?

[Ernie]

Oh, leave me alone.

[Sam Spade]

I got all night, hack, and I feel better than you do. What did you do with that check? I'll shake it if your teeth come out with it. Come on.

[Ernie]

All right, all right. Stop it. Stop it. I don't feel so good.

[Sam Spade]

Okay. Where?

[Ernie]

Pocket my shirt.

[Sam Spade]

Don't reach. I'll get it. There was a company check, which is what I'd expected. It was for $1,000, drawn in the Golden Gate Trust and Loan. But I wasn't expecting to find the signature on the bottom line. It was signed in a bold firm hand. Gordon Martini. Who was the penman on this?

[Ernie]

He wrote it himself, right in front of me.

[Sam Spade]

What was it supposed to be for?

[Effie]

He.

[Ernie]

He wanted I should knock off his brother.

[Sam Spade]

You get mixed up.

[Ernie]

He's dead, ain't he?

[Sam Spade]

That's what I mean. Gordon Martini's dead.

[Ernie]

Ah, the papers got it wrong. That was his brother. His twin brother. That other guy, that chauffeur kept hanging around the garage so I couldn't get out. I had to. I had to burn him too.

[Sam Spade]

You know what you're saying?

[Ernie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm making sense now. Get out of here. I'm getting steamed.

[Sam Spade]

Don't let it worry. Yeah, I got a nice cool place all picked out for you. After I turned Hack over to the cops, I did what checking I could at that time of night. As nearly as I could learn, Gordon Martini could never have had a brother, twin or otherwise. He was a first child. His mother died in childbirth and his father died one month later. So I went back to the offices of the Martini Trading Company. Glass keyed my way in and made a quick frisk of it. There I learned that the signature on the check was indeed Gordon's. But that he had closed out his account at that bank the day he wrote it. I thought about that on the way out to your apartment.

[Effie]

Sam, I've been calling and calling, trying to reach you. I've been so worried it's the end.

[Sam Spade]

This time you might be right. Fix me a drink.

[Effie]

Well, there's nothing in the house but those prepared martinis Gordon used to drink. Is that all right?

[Sam Spade]

No, but fix me one anyway. Never mind the ice. It's not morning yet. But I hate myself already.

[Effie]

Why don't you just relax and let me get it for you?

[Sam Spade]

I'll relax. You get the martinis.

[Effie]

What happened? What'd you think of Mary Callahan? Isn't she the end?

[Sam Spade]

She's cute. You're all cute.

[Effie]

All of me on ice. I put ice in. Anyway, it's nasty with our.

[Sam Spade]

It's nasty.

[Effie]

Anyway, I hope it doesn't make you fall down the way it did poor Gordon.

[Sam Spade]

Thanks.

[Effie]

What? What's the matter? Too dry?

[Sam Spade]

You open this bottle fresh?

[Effie]

Why, yes. What's the matter?

[Sam Spade]

Where are they, the rest of the bottles? Oh, yeah. More of the same. Is this all your husband ever drank?

[Effie]

Yes, gallons of it. It's a special brand. He even took it with him to bars and people's houses. He'd sit and drink them right out of the bottle like a little child. Then he'd be falling down drunk, of course. And that's how we lost so many friends. They dropped us like. Like.

[Sam Spade]

Like flies. Yeah. It was the end.

[Effie]

Who you phoning?

[Sam Spade]

City morgue. Maxie. Sam Spade. Sammy, what can I do on you? On Martini, Maxie. They got around to the autopsy end? Yeah, they rushed him through. Got the report handy right in front of me. Funny thing, Sam, the doc said they should have saved themselves the trouble. He'd have been dead in a week or two without no help. What from? Brain tumor. Malignant, it says here. Any alcohol in him? None from drinking. Sammy. What about the head wounds? Accidental fall due to periodic fainting spells. Part of his condition. Thanks, Maxie.

[Effie]

Well, what is it, Sam? Were the martinis poison?

[Sam Spade]

No, sweetheart. The martinis were colored water.

[Effie]

Why, they couldn't. Well, what made him get so drunk?

[Sam Spade]

He didn't. He was sick.

[Effie]

But Sam, who killed him, killed himself. But he couldn't have.

[Sam Spade]

He hired a gunman to do it. He planned his own murder, but that's what.

[Effie]

Well. Well, why didn't he leave a note or something? He could have ruined us all.

[Sam Spade]

Come here, sweetheart. Put your little hat on Uncle Sam's shoulder. Why, Sam, that's Just what he wanted you to do. He wanted to ruin you. He let Mary Callahan fleece him out of his interest in the company. He let Nesbitt juggle the books. He let you go your way with Ernie. He let all three of you fix yourselves up with as nice a set of motives for murder as a jury could ask for.

[Effie]

Oh, he couldn't have.

[Sam Spade]

The real joker was the check he used to pay off the man he hired to kill him. It bounced. It also proved he'd planned his own murder. But he still has his revenge because the insurance that would have kept the corporation from going broke won't be paid off on account of the self liquidating cause.

[Effie]

Oh, Sam, darling, what's going to become of us all?

[Sam Spade]

Well, Callahan and Nesbitt will probably sue each other to death. You might have to go to work and earn a living.

[Effie]

Well, I have $500. I might invest it in something.

[Sam Spade]

You already have. Here's my bill.

[Effie]

But Sam, you didn't help me. What? This is the end.

[Sam Spade]

No, it isn't, sweetheart. This is the beginning. Come here. Period. End of the end.

[Effie]

Well, you ask me, you helped her. Now, f. Well, that just goes to show you.

[Sam Spade]

Show what?

[Effie]

F. Man's ingratitude to man. What did Mr. Martini have against you?

[Sam Spade]

Why, nothing, sweetheart. He just needed a smart operator like, well, Johnny Madero was.

[Effie]

Sam, have you cashed that check Mr. Martini gave you? Well, not yet, I. Sam, any bartender would know better than to take a check from a man who. Who drinks that much.

[Sam Spade]

F you haven't been paying attention, he didn't drink. He didn't. I was able to establish that later on.

[Effie]

You haven't been listening, Sam. For all anybody knew, he was a hopeless drunk. He was. Sam. Oh, you're so wonderful and trusting. But I do wish that you'd understand this. He was a hopeless drunk.

[Sam Spade]

For the last time, Effie, he didn't really drink.

[Effie]

I'll just type this up, Sam, while you call the bank.

[Sam Spade]

I'll do that.

[Narrator]

A final reminder, friends. Whether you're going on a long vacation trip or just a weekend to the beach, be sure you've got a bottle and tube of Wild Root Cream Oil tucked away in your suitcase. Do this and you'll find it's easy and quick to spruce up again after stepping out of the water or off the tennis court for no matter where or when you use it. Wild Root Cream Oil grooms your hair neatly and naturally relieves dryness, removes loose dandruff. So at home and away from home, help yourself to Handsome hair with wild root cream oil. And next time you have a chance, 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.

[Effie]

Well, here it is, Sam. I hope it was worth the price of the paper and carbons.

[Sam Spade]

You made carbon copies of that? An unimportant report like that.

[Effie]

Oh, it bounced.

[Sam Spade]

Well, the estate isn't settled yet.

[Effie]

Oh, Sam, you're so wonderful and trusting.

[Sam Spade]

Effie, I am not wonderful and trusting. I am a hard boiled private eye.

[Effie]

I know. Just a pity there's no money in it.

[Sam Spade]

And I'm also two fisted.

[Effie]

Sam, have you ever thought of ceramics?

[Sam Spade]

Of what?

[Effie]

Ceramics. It takes virtually no capital. All you need is a small furnace and some clay. And if you don't have any talent, you can just make ashtrays.

[Sam Spade]

Thanks, I already have one.

[Effie]

Oh, flower pots are fun. You can pot them on a wheel.

[Sam Spade]

And you can pot your hat on and wheel on out of here. And also take your furnace and clay.

[Effie]

Oh, I love you when you're so gay and carefree.

[Sam Spade]

I am not gay and carefree. I am a.

[Effie]

You are a hard boiled private eye.

[Sam Spade]

Good night and sue me for your back salary, sweetheart.

[Narrator]

The adventures of Sam Spade, Dashiell Hammett's famous private detective are produced and directed by William Spear. Sam Spade is played by Howard Duff. Loreen Tuttle is Effie. The adventures of Sam Spade are written for radio by Bob Tolman and gild out with musical direction by Lud Gluster Gildao directed tonight's broadcast in William Spears absence. Join us again next Sunday 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 soothing lanolin. You better get wild root cream oil, Charlie. Start using it today. You'll find that you will have a tough time, Charlie, keeping all the gals away. Hiya, baldy. Get wild root right away. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System.