String Of Death Caper: The Adventures of Sam Spade (February 2, 1951)

“String Of Death Caper” is an episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade, the old-time radio show, first broadcast February 2, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Sam Spade is hired to locate Captain Eric Nostron, a beachcomber who possesses six of twelve legendary rose-colored pearls from the Bonya Islands. When Spade finds Nostron murdered in a hotel room, he becomes entangled in a dangerous web involving a drug-addicted dancer, a man claiming ownership of the pearls, and a mysterious Frenchman determined to reclaim what he believes is rightfully his. As bodies pile up and the pearls change hands repeatedly, Spade must navigate the treacherous underworld to prevent further deaths and solve the mystery.

San Francisco, with references to the Orient including the Bonya Islands, Singapore, and Tahiti. The action takes place in Spade's office, the Embassy Hotel, a food store on Grand Street, the Backwash bistro, and a yacht at Pier 32.

Characters: Sam Spade, Lieutenant Kelsey, Kelly Green, Captain Eric Nostron, Chon Lee, Ivan Sanderson, Jacques Mauro, Effie

Listen for: The recurring theme of the curse associated with the pearls, with each death linked to possession of them. Listen for the femme fatale Kelly Green's motivations and the competing claims to ownership of the legendary pearls. Pay attention to how Spade unravels the connections between the various characters seeking the pearls.

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.