Denny Shane Caper: The Adventures of Sam Spade (April 6, 1951)

“Denny Shane Caper” is an episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 6, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

Listen to The Adventures of Sam Spade free, live around the clock: every episode, in the order it first aired. No sign-up.

What happens

A 16-year-old girl named Sally Joan Michaels comes to Sam Spade claiming to need help finding her estranged brother Denny Shane so he can loan money for her stepmother's operation. Spade discovers she's lied about her identity and background, but agrees to help locate Shane. When Spade finally points out Shane on the street, Sally shoots him dead—and then admits to police that everything she told Spade was false.

San Francisco, including Spade's detective office, various locations around the city, a reducing studio on Sutter Street, and police headquarters.

Characters: Sam Spade, Sally Joan Michaels, Denny Shane, Lieutenant Dundee, Eddie Tucker, Augie Danno, Effie

Listen for: The shocking revelation of why Sally killed her brother, uncovered through a mysterious letter in a post office box and connections to high school students trapped in a criminal operation.

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.