The Convertible Caper

0:00 Duff in The Convertible Caper.

0:02 Sam Spade, Detective Agency.

0:13 Me, sweetheart.

0:14 Sam!

0:16 I knew you'd have the courage to come back and face it.

0:18 Well, I'm back, Effie.

0:21 You didn't do something else, did you, Sam?

0:22 Besides what?

0:23 Besides running away.

0:24 With that woman in a stolen car.

0:26 You're a little mixed up, Evie. The car was stolen from her.

0:29 You mean it was her own car?

0:30 Well, not exactly, Evie. You see, she stole it from somebody else, and then somebody stole it from her, and then I got it back for her. Well, it must have been quite a car to be worth all that trouble. It wasn't so much the car, Evie, as.

0:41 The body.

0:42 Then I don't understand. Think it over, sweetheart.

0:46 I'll be right down to dictate my report.

1:00 Oh, Sam, look at you.

1:03 Why don't you take no for an answer?

1:04 And just what do you mean by that, Miss Perrine? The claw marks on her face. Wrong again, sweetheart. She said yes, I said no. Hence the scratches.

1:12 I knew she was that type the minute she walked into this office.

1:15 That ankle bracelet and green nail polish.

1:18 Green nail polish.

1:19 Well, it's huge colors.

1:20 This one goes to homicide, Effie. Oh, not another murder, then. What else? To Detective Lieutenant Dundee from Samuel Spade with license number 137596. Subjects? The convertible caper. Dear Dundee, it had been a dull morning, but just before lunchtime, things began to brighten up. Her clothes looked like money, and what they were wrapped around looked even better. She eased herself into the chair I pushed up for her, rattled about a thousand bucks worth of charm bracelet at me, and after she'd arranged her legs, mouth, and eyes to our mutual satisfaction, she allowed me to hear the sound of her beautiful voice.

1:59 I do not know whether you will be interested in my case or not, Mr.

2:02 Staley.

2:03 What's your mind at rest, Miss, uh.

2:05 Estrada.

2:06 Mrs.

2:06 Staley.

2:07 Who knows?

2:08 Perhaps I am merely.

2:09 A waste of time.

2:10 My time is your time as you stay in the station, Mrs.

2:13 Staley.

2:14 Oh, you are very simple, very kind.

2:17 Yes.

2:18 Entrance. My automobile has been stolen.

2:21 When and from where?

2:23 Last night, after midnight, while I was checking in at the Hotel San Rafael, where I am staying... I foolishly left it parked.

2:29 Outside with the keys in it.

2:31 Have you reported this to the police?

2:32 No.

2:33 I suggest you do, then. No.

2:36 No? No.

2:37 Why not?

2:38 Because I stole it from another.

2:41 I see.

2:41 No, but you do not yet know all. If the police find the card and notify the one from whom I stole it, then that one will know that I am a suspect.

2:51 And that's bad.

2:54 If he finds out I'm in San Francisco, then he will come here and kill me. That is why I must recover the car rapidly and without the police. You will be glad to hear that.

3:05 Be very pleasant, Mrs. Strada, but hot cars are not exactly in my line.

3:10 You wish, but I.

3:11 I don't think anybody would murder you just for stealing his car.

3:13 Oh, not for the car, no.

3:15 Already he tries to kill me once, twice, three times. So I take the car and drive away rapidly.

3:20 Away from where?

3:21 Mexico State of Chihuahua, where this pig resides who wishes to murder me.

3:25 Why?

3:25 Oh, he drinks. He becomes a beast. He accuses me of.

3:32 Look.

3:32 Look here on my shoulder, this car.

3:34 Where already he cuts me with a knife.

3:36 Hmm.

3:39 Uh-huh.

3:39 Now you have seen something that changes your mind about.

3:42 Me, huh?

3:42 You see that I am sincere?

3:44 Why, Mrs. Strada, I never had any doubts. Oh, please.

3:48 I am without friends. You will call me Nietzsche, okay?

3:53 Yes, indeed.

3:54 Bueno, now we are friends.

3:55 In the car is sitting the pig.

3:59 Hmm.

4:00 Hey, what's this pig's name?

4:02 Pig is the only name I will honor him with.

4:04 Pig.

4:05 Pig.

4:05 Mm-hmm. Now, what make a car is this?

4:09 They aren't that.

4:10 You know this kind of car?

4:11 Yeah, it's a foreign car. I've seen a few around. This must have set the pig back several thousand bucks.

4:17 He steams everything.

4:20 Listen, my darling, please notice.

4:22 Around here, he steams. With blue fenders.

4:25 Uh-uh, not anymore. That's the first thing that Carthy changes, the paint job. Any other distinguishing marks? No, sir, no, sir.

4:33 Yeah.

4:35 It has a radio.

4:36 You don't say.

4:37 Uh-huh. And it has two windshield wipers.

4:40 Uh-huh. Well, I'll buzz around, Major. If I find anything, I'll let you know. My fee is.

4:47 Yes.

4:48 Yes. That is something else. I have no money.

4:53 Oh, that's great. That's just great.

4:54 But I am sincere. You said so.

4:57 Look, my darling.

4:57 See this?

4:58 It is worth very much.

5:00 See? This little charm alone. Platinum set with diamonds. Worth very much.

5:05 You will keep it until I pay you, huh?

5:08 Adios, Father.

5:13 Adios, Vito.

5:15 She thrust the charm bracelet into my hand, bit me on the ear, and departed. I put a Band-Aid on it, ran some cold water over my head, poured myself a spitz like a bourbon, and examined the bracelet. The dangle she pointed out was a white metal disc with a monogram in diamonds. Two vertical bars with a horizontal one on top. It was the Greek letter pi or the initials pt, depending on who had stolen it from whom.

5:40 I knew it was at least worth my fee. I dropped it into my pocket and went out. My first stop was over on mission. The sign on the building says, uh, Masterpiece Auto Painting, Joe Rembrandt, proprietor. Sam, long time no see.

5:55 Hello, Joe.

5:57 Got something you want painted? No, but I think you may have painted something I want. Sam, you know me. They drive them in the front. We spray the paint on them and push them out the back. No questions asked. That's quite a turnover, Joe. Yeah, we're going big time.

6:09 Got the exclusive now for the syndicate.

6:10 Work in the hill. Is that right? Yeah.

6:12 What are you looking for, Sam?

6:13 A murder car? Could be. It's a custom job. Foreign car. Uh, the answer is? Here's what it looks like. Yeah, convertible. Sure, come in this morning. Two-color job. Which two colors?

6:26 Canary yellow body, baby blue fender.

6:29 Yeah, quite a car, Sam.

6:31 Quite a snazzy heap.

6:33 Heap, huh? Yeah.

6:34 Is that what you want to know?

6:40 It was. Happy Herman Heap was one of the biggest used car thieves in the city. As I got off the streetcar in front of Happy Herman's lot, a flash of canary yellow paint caught my eye. I strolled down between the rows of cars and found him. Yes, sir. Heap's the name. Happy Herman Heap. Every car on this lot is in perfect mechanical condition. Take your choice. Kind of hard to choose, Herman. There's so many here.

7:04 Yes, sir.

7:05 It takes a heap of heaps to make a heap of heaps.

7:09 Yeah. That yellow job with the blue fenders there?

7:14 Oh, yes, sir.

7:14 But the motor in that car, it does need some work.

7:17 Now, overheat. Does it run? Oh, yes, it'll run. But overheat.

7:21 Now, this is more what I want.

7:22 Let me try it.

7:23 Here we go.

7:26 Sounds all right to me. Oh, idling, yes, but needs some work in the transmission of the differential. Mind if I drive it around the block? Well, the mechanics were just about to work on it. Besides, I'm afraid this car is more than you'd care to invest. Well, let me try it out anyway. Here, I'll leave it at positive.

7:45 I reached in my pocket for Meech's charm bracelet. He took one look at it, and his expression changed.

7:50 Well.

7:52 Why didn't you say so? No deposit is necessary. The car's yours. Drive it as far as you like. Thank you, Harmon Heath. I took him at his word. I put the magic bracelet in my pocket, drove back to O'Farrell Street, parked in front of the San Rafael Hotel, slipped the doorman a buck to wash it for me, and went on into the lobby. The desk clerk said that Senorita Estrada had checked out 30 minutes before, leaving no address.

8:23 I found the house dick in the bar and asked him for a rundown. Yeah, I remember her, Sam. Very nice dick. Any callers signing? Yeah, two guys. Went out when they came. They've been back since. Who were they? You won't believe it, Sam. One of them was Tom Tom Carey. What's he doing in San Francisco? He's wanted for murder. I don't know, but there must be plenty in it if he's brought him back across the border.

8:49 He's staying here? Yeah, room 613. Do me a favor, will you, Tyner? Anything at all, Ty. There's a car parked outside in the loading zone here. Store it in the hotel garage for me, will you? Upstairs, as far out of sight as you can get it. I went upstairs and rang the buzzer at room 613. The door was opened by a little dark-complected man with hard eyes and Indian features. There was a mean-looking knife in his hand, but he put it away at a nod from Tom-Tom Carey.

9:17 How'd you find out I was in town? Not from me, Jeff. I don't know how much he told you, Sam, but if he told you this much, he was 11. It's a million-dollar caper. And you know some of the things I've done for life. What's in it for me? What'd she pay you? Nothing. She left this charm bracelet in Hawkins. Now, boss, I caught him now. Shut up, Hawkins. Give me that bracelet. Uh-uh.

9:42 Watch it, Tom. Don't crowd me. I got something bigger than this or you wouldn't be here. All right, Sam, what do you want? I want to hear you talk. I guess you know I've been down Mexico, eh? I'm listening. I got a little business down here, garage business. Running hot cars across the border from the States? We cool them off. Little party work, the new serial number. Like Classic says, it sounds like a good business. You shouldn't be neglecting it. You met the dame? She says you want to kill her. I was off my trot. I scared her. I didn't mean anything. I thought I could scare her into sticking around. I let Park own Nick's shoulder a little bit. Oh, just a little bit.

10:17 Yeah.

10:18 I figured her wrong. I knew that, you know. If I could see her for five minutes just to talk to her, I know it'd be okay. I can't help you, Tom-Tom. I want to talk to her myself. Listen, she hasn't got a penny, only that car. She figures I'm peddling that, not me more. You already told her? Some car thieves took it. She hired me to price it. Listen, Sam.

10:38 Maybe broke in a strange country, I'd look good to her again. Here's a thousand bucks, Sam. Oh, this is so... No sudden, Tom-Tom. Nothing. When you see her again, give her that bracelet back, yeah? It was a present from me. And whatever you do, don't find their color. Okay, Tom-Tom, it's a promise. Thank you. Only one thing I don't understand.

10:58 You said it was a million-dollar caper. I meant that. She's worth a million bucks to me, Sam. The girl, Tom-Tom? Or the car? Oh, I wish you hadn't asked that question, Sam. I really do. And now, back to the convertible caper. Tonight's adventure with Sam Spade. When Tom-Tom Carey said a million-dollar caper, he meant just that. He never risked a rap for less than a hundred grand, and no dame that ever lived was worth more to him than a hot mink coat. If Meacher wasn't the million-dollar package, the car was. I didn't know what was in it, but sometimes it might be diamonds, dope, smuggled Chinese, or just plain money. So I went back to the hotel garage.

11:51 I climbed the long, curving ramp to the second floor and found the canary yellow DeAnza convertible crowded in behind four ranks of cars at the rear of the building. I started to work on it. Nothing in the luggage trunk, nothing under the seats, under the upholstery, under the door panels, nothing anywhere. Then I got tiny stover and the two of us went over the second time. Ah, it's a cold leash. It's not. I know it's not. Now, think, Tiny.

12:15 What's different about this car? Well, it's solider built and most good body of work. I don't know. Hey, here's something. What? There's a hole punched out of this fender over here. About the size of a quarter. Let me see that. Yeah, right here. It curves under, see? Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah. What's that you got? Some person. Did you say this dangle on here was what was cut out of that fender?

12:42 Let me see. It fits. Fits even the curves.

12:47 Yeah.

12:47 What does it mean, Sam? The dangle on the bracelet is solid platinum. Hey, Sam, are you trying to tell me the fenders on this heap are solid platinum? You got a pocket knife, Simon?

12:56 Yeah. Here.

12:58 There you are. Nice.

13:02 It shines.

13:03 Sam, is this a hot car? I didn't answer him. I didn't have to. He looked in the gray-white gleam of the bracelet charm of the square of paint I'd scraped off the fender and answered the question himself. Meech's convertible was convertible in more ways than one. It was about the hottest car in San Francisco as of that moment.

13:23 After I'd left the garage, I tried to phone Tom-Tom, but he wasn't in. I had an uncomfortable feeling he was out looking for me. He was. As I stepped out of the phone booth, there was a rush of air past my left ear. A knife stuck in the wood less than an inch west of him. Came out in the street and found a seam duck around the corner into an alley. I ran after him. I called him and stood him up against the wall.

13:48 Let me go.

13:49 Let me go. I cut you down. What do you know about that car? What do you know about that car? Come on, talk or you get more of this.

13:57 I don't know nothing.

13:58 They don't tell me nothing. Where's Mitchell? I don't know. Mitchell don't know nothing either. Only Tom Tom and... Tom Tom and who else?

14:06 I don't talk no more.

14:08 Are they cutting you in? I don't need no cut. The boss, he pays me good. Forty pesos. Sometimes more. Work for me, and I'll cut you in.

14:15 I cut you to pieces. The boss treats me good.

14:17 Sure.

14:18 You do all the dirty work. If there's any trouble, you'll take the rap. What means rap? They put you in a little room and squirt gas in you. You fall dead. Gas?

14:28 Tom Tom do this?

14:29 He does indeed. Venga.

14:31 Come.

14:32 I take you to see the man. I think he will be very happy to see you. The place Paco took me to was about as high on Russian Hill as you can get. The house was old, based in brownstone, and had a high iron fence around it. On the gate was a nameplate, H.H. Lovelace. When I opened it to go in, I noticed that Paco was no longer with me. Oh, Mr.

15:02 Spade, come in, come in.

15:04 The gray-haired gentleman who greeted me was wearing a winged collar, a carnation, and a very distinguished air. I could hardly believe it, but he was definitely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, none other than the one and only Happy Herman Heath.

15:17 Well, Mr.

15:20 Spade, I see that you're surprised. I'm overwhelmed, Mr.

15:23 Heath.

15:24 That's lovely. Lovelace, that is the correct name.

15:27 For my fifth avocation, I selected my first and second names, the HH, you know.

15:31 My full name is.

15:32 Herman Heath Lovelace.

15:34 About that car, Mr. Spade. Yeah, about that.

15:38 I must know that you outwitted me.

15:39 I was rather proud of my little device, the disc on the charm braces, you know. When you showed it to me at my business establishment, I naturally.

15:47 Thought you were authorized to take the car.

15:49 Yeah, naturally.

15:50 However, I'm not averse to.

15:52 Enterprise in a young man... And I'm prepared to pay for my blunder. You said a million. I still couldn't accept, Mr. Lovelace. Oh, why not? I was hired to recover that car for my client. It's not mine to sell. Well, it's certainly not hers. I don't care whose it is. All I know is that my client's life is in danger, and it has something to do with that car.

16:09 Mr.

16:09 Strada?

16:09 Yeah.

16:10 Excuse me one moment. Please arrive. Hello, Papa.

16:22 That's all she said. Then she stood there looking at me in that way that made you not care who she was double-crossing or why. Then she turned to Lovelace, alias Herman Heap.

16:33 How much did he know?

16:34 At last, everything, I fear.

16:36 He has agreed to a term?

16:37 Yes. Good.

16:39 I must have my bracelet back now, Sam.

16:41 Sure, it's right here in my... I reached in my coat pocket for the charm bracelet she'd given me to keep for her. It wasn't there. It wasn't in any of my pockets. I guessed that it was in one of Paco's pockets. Meecha watched me fumbling, her eyes blazing with anger.

16:56 Fool, you have lost it. We are helpless without that.

16:59 I thought it was the car you wanted.

17:01 Please, please, one thing at a time.

17:03 I suggest that we first gain possession of the car.

17:05 Yes, Lovelace, you are right. First, the car. Ah, yes. This is the car at last.

17:18 A princess in vulgar raiment, but still a princess.

17:21 No royal coach carrying a king to a coronation.

17:24 Ever held such riches.

17:25 Hey, you talk too much.

17:26 Oh, I do. Well, set your place at the wheel, Mitchell.

17:29 We shall drive out of here into a splendid future.

17:34 After you, Mr. Spade. No, no, Mr. Heath. After you.

17:41 Ironic, isn't it, that of all my varied interests, I've never learned to drive a car.

17:46 You seem kind of shaky, Meecher. You sure you can handle the car down the ramp?

17:50 I'm a very good driver, Waffle.

17:53 Meecher, go put on your brakes.

17:55 There's a man coming up the ramp.

18:04 He was dead before I got to him. As I leaned over him, I saw the bracelet lying beside his hand. I picked it up and walked back to the car. Nietzsche and Herman Heath Lovelace were sitting in stony silence, glaring at each other.

18:17 Is he dead?

18:18 Yeah.

18:19 Was the bracelet on him?

18:21 I didn't look.

18:22 Lovelace, go and risk him.

18:23 Must I? It's very distasteful to me. Come, Mr. Spade.

18:27 You fool.

18:27 We trust this detective.

18:28 Go on.

18:29 Very well.

18:31 Get in, Sam.

18:32 Get in.

18:33 We'll leave him here. What's the matter?

18:35 Is something wrong?

18:35 Oh, nothing at all.

18:39 Come back here.

18:44 This is an outbreak. I need to make... Come back here, I say.

18:49 Please, Raffo.

18:50 A cigarette.

18:51 Sure, sure. Here you are. Gracias.

18:52 De nada. I, uh, I saw you pick up the bracelet.

19:13 I meant that you should share it with me. That is why I gave you the bracelet in the first place. I liked you.

19:18 Couldn't have been because you were safe as long as Tom-Tom didn't know where the bracelet was, and if you had to kill somebody for it, it would be me.

19:24 Please, Carita, what does it matter now? We are together, we have the car, we have the bracelet, and the pig is dead.

19:32 That's what worries me.

19:34 Oh, surely you do not think I meant to kill him.

19:36 Of course not. Your foot just slipped. You stepped on the gas by accident. Yes.

19:40 Yes, that was it.

19:41 It won't stick, sweetheart. Not with me.

19:45 But with the police?

19:46 My story won't help you. I don't know enough.

19:49 Oh? Then I tell you everything. I was with Tom-Tom for a year. I hated him 365 days. I tried to run away. Always that Paco came after and brought me back. Then, Senor Lovelace came with the car.

20:04 Senor Lovelace had much money, but he could not.

20:06 Take it from the country. So he bought Stole platinum.

20:11 Some he received from refugees.

20:13 Who had sent their fortunes abroad in that form. But there was no safe way to get it across the border.

20:18 So for a cut, Tom Tom had the platinum made into fenders and welded onto the car. Why was the bracelet so important?

20:25 It was too dangerous for Lovelace to bargain directly. Tom-Tom was to get the money for the platinum and give the little piece of.

20:32 The tender as a token. Lovelace would know.

20:34 Who to give the car to when.

20:36 They showed it to him.

20:36 That's why he let me drive the car off the lot, huh?

20:40 I don't care, darling, even if you try to steal it. Now we understand each other, no? You are tough, too. Tougher than Tom-Tom, I think.

20:48 Where?

20:49 Now we have everything for ourselves, you and me. What do we care for the others, huh?

20:55 You make a good pitch, sweetheart. You look beautiful while you're making it. But I don't like your driving.

21:01 What do you mean?

21:03 Pull over. I'm driving this heap back to the city. No. I said pull over. I won't let you do it.

21:08 I don't care what happens.

21:10 Take it easy. You want to kill us both?

21:11 Sure, I will kill us both. We die together or we live together.

21:14 Yes or no? You're nuts.

21:15 Answer me.

21:15 The answer is no.

21:16 Bueno, you will see I mean what I say.

21:21 The fog thinned out as we rounded a bend in the road. There was a point ahead with a sheer 300-foot drop to the sea. She jerked the car away from the pavement and steered straight at it. I grabbed the wheel and twisted it. The car skidded on gravel and slid sideways toward the cliff. I got the door open and tried to yank her out with me. She held on and kicked me until I rolled free. She didn't look very beautiful when I saw her for the last time. And the flashy convertible was a pile of junk.

22:07 Very expensive junk, but junk all the same. I understand the federal men have confiscated the platinum and are holding Lovelace for questioning. I doubt if he'll crack. Nobody can embarrass a used car salesman. Period. End of report. Sam, do you really like this racket we're in? I hate it. So do I.

22:28 But don't let's ever go into any other ratchets.

22:32 It's a promise, sweetheart. Why, I'll never know.

22:36 Good night.

22:39 Good night, sweetheart.

22:40 Good night.

22:53 The Adventures of Sam Spade, Dashiell Hammett's famous private detective, was written for radio by Bob Tormund and Gil Dowd, with musical direction by Lug Bluskin.

23:04 Sam Spade is played by Howard Duff, Maureen Tuttle.