Death Bed Caper: The Adventures of Sam Spade (June 20, 1948)

“Death Bed Caper” is an episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 20, 1948. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Sam Spade is hired by Dan Starbuck to witness his dying brother Gordon's deathbed statement aboard the yacht Margarita. Gordon has been beaten with a paperweight and accuses Dan of the attack, but when Dan flees into the fog, another body surfaces—the boatman Del Casino. Spade must uncover the truth behind the competing deathbed confessions and a web of secrets involving the beautiful widow.

Sausalito and San Francisco Bay, California, June 1948. The story centers on the yacht Margarita anchored in the fog-shrouded bay.

Characters: Sam Spade, Dan Starbuck, Gordon Starbuck, Maggie Starbuck, Nils Halveson, Del Casino, Effie, Sheriff

Listen for: A clever twist on deathbed testimony as Sam uses a risky deception to trap a murderer, forcing her own confession before revealing a crucial detail that undermines her credibility as a witness.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.