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Transcript

Dragnet - "Big Manikin" (Old Time Radio, 1954) · Dragnet | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Jason Helmer leaves his Los Angeles mannequin rental and sales
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: business with a man who owes him money, and neither
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: man comes back. His wife receives a telephone call saying
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Helmer is on his way home, but Helmer's car is
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: missing as well. It is a missing persons case for
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner, Frank Smith, played by
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Jack Webb and Ben Alexander. From NBC and originally broadcast
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: October 19th, 1954, this is Dragnet, episode 270, Big Mannequin.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: The investigation opens at Helmer's shop on Agatha Street, where
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Friday and Smith begin with the few traces left by
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: two acquaintances and a man who failed to return home.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Here is the original broadcast.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. For the
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: you will travel step by step on the side of
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: the law to an actual case transcribed from official police files.
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: the story of your police force in action.
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: It was Friday, January 2nd. It was overcast in Los Angeles.
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: We were working the night watch on a homicide division,
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: missing persons detail. My partner's Frank Smith, the boss of
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: Captain Warman. My name's Friday. I was on my way
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: back from communications, and it was 8.12 a.m. when I
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: got to room 24. Squad room. Well, it's hard to believe,
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: isn't it? Hmm? January 2nd. Another year gone by. Yeah. Yep.
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: You see this evening's sports page? No, I didn't watch.
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: Still talking about that Rose Bowl game. Oh, is that so?
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: You know, Joe, it looks to me like that last
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: play of the game is going to end up like
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: the Dempsey-Toonie thing. The what? The Dempsey-Toonie fight. Oh, no,
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: I don't think it will. Oh, yeah. Big controversy over
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: that last play. Well, since when? All the sportswriters agree. Well,
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: that's where you're wrong, Joe. How do you figure that?
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: I read them all. Examiner, Times, Herald, News, The Mirror.
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: They all agree the officials called it right. All the sportswriters.
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: Every one of them. Finally, you haven't seen this. I've
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: never seen that paper before in my life. No, that's
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: where you're wrong, Joe. All the writers don't agree on
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: that last play, see? Finchley Crockett, right there, you can
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: see for yourself. Who? Finchley Crockett. Who's he? Only the
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: sports editor, that's all. The editor of what? What paper
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: is this? Jesse County Realist. Picked it up tonight on
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: my way in. Well, the game's over, so let's just
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: forget about it. What do you say? Oh, sure. Just
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: overlook the only right call on the game, huh? Just
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: pass it right by. Joe, Finchley Crockett's never been wrong.
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: Called the World Series, the all-star game, picked the heavyweight
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: champ before the fight.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: He's accurate, Joe.
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: Good for him. But it's over and the score still stands.
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: Next year's another game, okay?
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Listen to this.
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: I'm going to read this column to you. The Bird
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: Says by Finchley Crockett. What's the name of the column?
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: The Bird. Bird Crockett. Who? What? Oh, I forgot to
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: tell you. When Crockett played for the Trojans, his nickname
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: was The Bird. I don't remember anybody by that name
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: playing for USC.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: No, Joe.
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: JCU. Jesse County Trojans. Oh, yeah, sure. Now listen to
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: what he says. It is a rare treat when the
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: editor of a small-town paper gets to see one of
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: the nation's bowl games. But your editor was so treated
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: this week at the county seat. As you all know,
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: the new television transmitter is now operating, and it is
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: a rare treat. As you know, there's nothing like being
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: at the game, but it is a rare treat when
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: the editor of a small-town paper gets to see one
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: of the nation's bowl games. He's a real great guy, Joe.
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: And in closing, yours truly would like to go on
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: record and say that the last play of the game
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: was a complete mystery to me. Go ahead. Go ahead.
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: That's it, Joe. He made his point. That's all there
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: is to the entire column? Well, I said it proves
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: that all the sportswriters didn't agree on the last play
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: of the game. I get it. Missing person, Friday. Yes, ma'am.
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: That's right. All right, we'll be right out. No, ma'am.
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: Right away. Bye. What do you got? Missing husband. Yeah.
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: Wife says he and another man went out this afternoon.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: He's over three hours late getting home. Kind of early
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: to start worrying, huh? Well, not the way she puts it.
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: What do you mean? Well, the fellow with him. Yeah.
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: Her husband was going to have him put in jail. 8.32 p.m.
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: Frank and I left the office and drove out to
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: the address. It was located on Agatha Street. The lettering
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: on the window read, Helmers, Mannequin, Rebel, and Sales. The
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: store was dark except for a single light at the
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: rear of the place. We knocked and a small woman
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: in her 50s answered the door. We identified ourselves and
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: she asked us in.
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: You want to come back to the office?
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: Watch your step there. It's kind of dark.
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: Thank you. These dummies sure look like real people.
• 5:24
  Speaker 6: Yes, they specialize in life like models.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: I've been working on the books. Trying to keep my
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: mind off of what's happened.
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: Uh-huh.
• 5:32
  Speaker 5: You want to sit down?
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: That's all right, Miss Helmer. You go ahead. You want
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: to tell us what this is all about now?
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: Jason's gone.
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: That's your husband's name, Jason Helmer? That's right. How old
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: is he? He's 53.
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: He had a birthday last October.
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: Why do you think something's happened to him?
• 5:48
  Speaker 6: Because it's not like him to do a thing like
• 5:50
  Speaker 6: this without telling me.
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: You told me on the phone that you'd heard from him.
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: Is that right?
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: Not from him. Fred Madison called me.
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: When was that?
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: I guess it was about 5.45. Might have been 6.
• 6:00
  Speaker 5: No later.
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: What did fella Madison say to you?
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: Told me that Jason was coming right home.
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: Were they together when he called, you know?
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: Fred said they were.
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: Did you talk to your husband? No.
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: At the time, I didn't think it'd be necessary.
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: Hmm. You know where they call from?
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: Fred said some bar.
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: Did he mention a name?
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: No, and I didn't ask. I guess I was afraid to.
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: What do you mean?
• 6:22
  Speaker 6: Well, Jason used to drink.
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: Quite a bit. We had a lot of trouble over it.
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: Seemed like everything was falling apart, and then he straightened
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: up and quit. He hasn't had a drink of liquor
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: in ten years. When Fred called, I thought that maybe
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: he'd gotten Jason started again.
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: Did he say your husband had been drinking? No.
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: No, he just told me that Jason was leaving the
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: bar and would be right home.
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: Was he driving?
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: Well, I don't know.
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: Ma'am?
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: My husband hurt his shoulder a couple of days ago.
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: He wrenched it. I don't think he's able to drive
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: very well.
• 6:51
  Speaker 6: He might try to make it with one hand. Our
• 6:54
  Speaker 6: car has that automatic drive thing, you know.
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: You don't have to shift gears. But I don't think
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: he'd have driven.
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: Did he leave in your car? Yes.
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: Fred told him he'd drive.
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: Where'd he go?
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: Well, like I told you on the phone, to the races.
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: Your husband usually go there? No.
• 7:09
  Speaker 5: The only reason he went today was to collect some money.
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: From who? Fred. He's the man your husband was going
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: to put in jail, is that right?
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: Yes, that's right.
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: Why?
• 7:19
  Speaker 6: Well, he's owed us some money for quite a while.
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: About four months ago, Jason asked him for it. Fred
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: wrote a check, and it wasn't any good.
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: Go ahead.
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: Well, Jason tried to get in touch with Fred and
• 7:30
  Speaker 6: wanted to give him the chance to make good on
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: the check. He was never able to catch him at home.
• 7:35
  Speaker 6: Talked to him on the phone... But Fred was never there.
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: When my husband went over to see him.
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: Jason told him to have the money this morning or
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: the bad chick would be turned over to the police.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: Wow.
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: And Fred showed up here this morning. We thought he'd
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: come to pay the money, but he told us he
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: didn't have it.
• 7:50
  Speaker 5: And Jason said there wasn't any reason to spend more
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: time on it. Said they might as well go to
• 7:53
  Speaker 5: the police.
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: That's when Fred told us that he could get the
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: money out at the racetrack. He wanted Jason to drive
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: him out there.
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: Is that what happened?
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: But first, Jason didn't want to, you know, with his
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: sore shoulders. He told Fred to take a bus.
• 8:09
  Speaker 6: Fred said he didn't have any money and begged my
• 8:11
  Speaker 6: husband to drive him. He told him how he'd pay.
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: The money he owed and have enough to get home.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: Well, they left here about 11.
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: Did this Fred Madison say who he was going to
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: get the money from? No.
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: Just that it was from Fred.
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: Can you give us a description of your husband's car? Yes.
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: I've got the license number, too.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: If you want it.
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: How about a description of both men?
• 8:30
  Speaker 5: Well, I can do you that.
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: All right, Miss Allen. Sergeant? Yes, ma'am.
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: You've been through this kind of thing before. You ought
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: to know.
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: What's that? About Jason.
• 8:40
  Speaker 6: Do you think he's all right?
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: Well, I wouldn't know, Ms. Helmer. We'll try to find out.
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: We've been so close the last ten years, ever since
• 8:47
  Speaker 6: he stopped drinking. Guess that's what I'm afraid of more
• 8:50
  Speaker 6: than anything else.
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: Him starting up again.
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: I might not understand.
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: Do you think he might have started up again?
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: Well, I wouldn't know that either, but I'd say things
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: might be in your favor.
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: Well, how's that?
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: Well, ten years is a long time.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: Good habits are hard to break, too. Before we left
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: the store, we got a complete description of Jason Helmer
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: and Fred Madison. We also got Madison's address and the
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: lifeless number of the car they were driving. Mrs. Helmer
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: gave us a recent photograph of her husband, and we
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: checked with R & I on both men. We found
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: a record on each one of them. Helmer had been
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: booked twelve times for drugs. The last one was over
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: ten years ago. Madison had been picked up for drunk
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: suspicion of burglary and writing checks without sufficient funds. We
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: checked the jails and the hospitals and we found that
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: neither man had been booked in the last five hours.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: We went back to the office and got out a
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: local on an ATV on both men and the car. 9.46 p.m.
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: We drove out to talk to Fred Madison. There was
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: no one at home, but we got the information that
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: his wife was employed at a restaurant on Clay Street.
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: We went over to see her.
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: Can I help you?
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I'd like to see Mrs. Madison, please. Who are you?
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: Police officer. This is my partner, Frank Smith. My name's Friday.
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: Here's our identification. Uh-huh.
• 10:07
  Speaker 6: Well, I'm Lorna Madison. What do you want?
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: A few questions you'd like to ask.
• 10:11
  Speaker 6: Mind going in the back to talk? I don't want
• 10:13
  Speaker 6: everybody in the place to know my business.
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: Booth back here.
• 10:18
  Speaker 6: Isn't hard enough to keep the job?
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: Go ahead.
• 10:22
  Speaker 6: Sit down.
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 10:23
  Speaker 6: Can I get you some coffee?
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: No, thank you. No, ma'am.
• 10:26
  Speaker 6: I don't have to ask you what this is all about.
• 10:30
  Speaker 6: I guess.
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: Beg your pardon?
• 10:32
  Speaker 6: Something about Fred?
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am.
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: What'd he do?
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: Well, we're not sure that he's done anything yet, Miss Madison.
• 10:37
  Speaker 6: Then why are you here?
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: We're trying to find him. He is in trouble. We
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: just want to talk to him. Could you tell us
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: where he might be?
• 10:43
  Speaker 6: He could be home if you type in.
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: Yes, we have.
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: Well, I don't know again.
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: He left this morning and said he'd be home early.
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: Have you heard from him? No. Did he say where
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: he was going when he left? The race track. Was
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: he going with anybody, would you know?
• 10:56
  Speaker 6: He didn't say.
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: What kind of work does your husband do, Ms. Madison?
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: He's a collector. What's that?
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: He collects corks and bottles.
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: Ma'am?
• 11:03
  Speaker 6: I'm trying to tell you it doesn't work.
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: He just drinks.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: And how could he afford to go to the races?
• 11:08
  Speaker 6: He can't. The only money he's got is what he
• 11:09
  Speaker 6: can borrow from other.
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: People to steal from my place. Mm-hmm. Did he say
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: why he was going to the races? No.
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: I don't care what he does anymore. Tried to help him,
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: but he doesn't make any effort to change. He goes
• 11:19
  Speaker 6: on drinking and he's so inside himself.
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: Any idea where he'd go if he was drinking?
• 11:24
  Speaker 6: Any place where he can mooch a drink. He's even
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: tried it here.
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: Can you give us the name of any of the places? Yeah.
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: I can tell you, but would you tell me what
• 11:33
  Speaker 6: he's done?
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: Well, just like we said, Ms. Madison, we're not sure
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: that he's done anything yet. Is it true? Yes, ma'am.
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: We'd just like to talk to him. All right.
• 11:42
  Speaker 6: I'll get and help you find him.
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: I got a phone call earlier this evening. From your husband?
• 11:47
  Speaker 6: No, from a friend of ours in the valley, David Neeson.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Fred has called him.
• 11:50
  Speaker 6: Fred wanted to.
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: Use his place tonight. David said he could.
• 11:53
  Speaker 6: I asked him if Fred had been drinking.
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: He said he couldn't tell, but I know he has.
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: Follows a pattern. How's that, Ms. Manson? He's done it before.
• 12:00
  Speaker 6: Go out to David's place, drink himself into a super.
• 12:03
  Speaker 6: David always calls me, so I don't worry. Could I
• 12:07
  Speaker 6: have something in your office?
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: If you find him there, will you do what you
• 12:12
  Speaker 6: can for him?
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: What do you think is going to do any good?
• 12:15
  Speaker 6: Wait a minute, Mr.
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: Friday. I don't think he'd take our help, would he? Why?
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: He didn't want yours. Miss Madison gave us the address
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: of the place where her husband was supposed to be.
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: We also got the address and phone number of David Neeson.
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: We put in a call to him, but he hadn't
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: heard from Madison. Frank and I left the restaurant and
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: drove out to the San Fernando Valley. On the way out,
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: it started to rain. 3113 Nordhoff Street was a small
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: redwood house. We parked the car and walked up onto
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: the porch. Frank tried the door. Let's try again. Yeah. Yeah,
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: who's there? Madison, open the door. Don't worry, I didn't
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: order anything. Come on, Madison, open up. Doesn't sound like
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: he's doing too gently.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: Where do you want?
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: Let's talk inside. Sure. Sure.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: Wouldn't keep anybody out at night like this. Come on in.
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: Police officers. Yeah. Well, let's go by the fire.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: It's cold out here in the middle of the room.
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: You Fred Madison?
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: Well, that's what you call me when you're pounded on
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: the door.
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: That's right.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: You friends of Dave's?
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: We've talked to him.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: He's a nice fellow, old Dave. This is his house,
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: you know.
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we know.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: Nice place.
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: Roofs tight. Good bar.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: He's a great friend, old Dave.
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: Come on, get out. Yeah. I.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: How do you fellas like to drink?
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: You know, something to keep the chill out? No, we
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: don't want one. We think you've had enough, too.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Well, how about you, mister?
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: No. Okay.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: But don't say I didn't try to.
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: Put the glass down, Madison. You're going to have enough
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: trouble answering our questions as it is. Well, it's just
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: where you're wrong. Is that right? Yeah. One thing everybody
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: says about old.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Fred, he can handle his booze. You've never seen old
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Fred swinging.
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: Put that glass down. Okay. Let's cooperate.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: Mind if I sit down?
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll help you. Sit right here.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: All right. Oh, Dave, I ought to get some cushions
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: for these benches.
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you want to start talking now?
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: Whenever you're ready.
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: What'd you do today? All day? That's right.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Nothing, absolutely nothing.
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: Where'd you go? Took a little ride out to the track.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: The races?
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, took a little ride. You go by yourself? Mm-hmm.
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: I said, did you go to the races by yourself?
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, I didn't.
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: Who'd you go with?
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Friend of mine.
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: What's his name?
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: Well, you don't know him.
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: Give us his name.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: Jason Homer.
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: Tell us what happened. Well, nothing.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: We drove out there and saw the horses.
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: Did you make any bets? No. Then why'd you go?
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: I like horses. You know that's not the reason. Now,
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: come on.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Okay, I went out to collect some money.
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: From who? Why are you asking all these questions? Did
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: you get the money? Yeah. What'd you do with it?
• 15:09
  Speaker 5: I don't think that's any of your business.
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: You do anything wrong with it? No. Well, then you
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: don't mind telling us, do you? Pay the bill. To who? Jason.
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: How much you owe him?
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: A hundred bucks.
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: Listen, I don't like all these questions.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: The way you guys came in here, I don't like
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: it at all. I don't think I'm going to answer
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: anything more for you.
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: I think you are. Well, where'd you go after you
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: left the track? Come on, Madison.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Told you it drove out to the valley.
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: How did I go with you?
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Yes, he did.
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: Who drove? Me.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: Jason has a sore shoulder.
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: All right. We stopped at a bar, had a.
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: Couple of drinks.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: Homer was feeling pretty good that he got paid.
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: How about Helmut? Did he have anything to drink? Who? Helmut. Yeah, yeah,
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: a couple. What was the name of the bar?
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: What?
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: The bar. What's the name of it?
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: Well, I don't know.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: You stopped at a place and you don't know the
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: name of it? That's the way it is.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: It doesn't matter what name's on the outside anyway. Just
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: what's on the bottles.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: That's what's important. All right. What happened then?
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Jason said he had to go home.
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: He wanted me to call his wife and tell her
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: he was on the way.
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: Did you? Yeah. What time was that? Oh, I guess about.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: 5.30, someplace in there.
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: Well, we sat around and had a couple more and
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: then he left.
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: You stayed on after Halmer left? Yeah. Who paid for
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: the drink? Well, who do you think?
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Me.
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: How much money did you collect out of the track?
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: A hundred bucks.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Collected it and then paid Jason.
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: All right, let's see your wallet.
• 16:32
  Speaker 6: Why?
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: Come on, get it up. How much money have you got?
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: I don't know, not much.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: Well, take a guess, will you? Twenty, thirty dollars. All right,
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: open your wallet and count it. Well, it might be
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: better if you do. I said you count it.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: Okay, but don't get mad at me if I do
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: it wrong.
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: We'll try not to. All right.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: Let's see.
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: Ten.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Twenty. Twenty-five.
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: Twenty-six. Twenty-seven.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Twenty-seven dollars.
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: That and the change I still got in my pocket.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: You want me to count that, too?
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: Never mind. I'll be glad to do it for you.
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: Let me see your wallet.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Finally, here you are.
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: You keep the money. Now give me the wallet. That
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: wallet's a.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Present from my wife. Real nice.
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: A cordovan leather.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: Not a stitch in it, you know.
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: It all folded. Okay, here. Put it back in your pocket.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you.
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: Where'd you get the money, Madison?
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: From in my wallet.
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: Before that. I had it. Since when? This morning. I
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: won't hold. Why? We got it that you were broke
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: this morning. Oh, I got it now.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Now I have got it.
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: You have, huh?
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: You think I'm a thief, isn't that it?
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: We'll let you tell us. No deal. I didn't steal it.
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: All right, then when did you get it?
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: From my bank.
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: When did you get it? Tonight. You're going to have
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: to do a little better than that, Madison. Well, I
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: don't know why.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: I'd be perfectly happy to prove it to you.
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: When you're ready, huh? All right, I'll show you. Take
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: you right out there.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: You think all the banks close at the same.
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: Time, don't you? Go ahead. Well, you're wrong.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: Mine's always open. Of course, you don't pay any interest,
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: but it's there and it's always open.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: All right, let's go. Sure. Take you right out there.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: It's out in Canoga Park.
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: You got a coat? No, sir.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Now, how about a little drink before we go, huh?
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: Put that down. I told you once. You've had enough
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: of that.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: It ain't that much. I hate to figure what would
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: happen if I ever ran out. I hate to think
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: about it. It'd be terrible to have to go without it.
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: Well, I'll tell you something. What's that? That bank of
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: yours isn't there. You're going to get the chance.
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: police force in action.
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: Because of Fred Madison's condition, it was difficult to know
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: how much of the truth he was telling us. We
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: went back to the car and started to drive toward
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: Canoga Park. On the way, we stopped and put in
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: a call to Mrs. Helmer. Her husband still hadn't returned.
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: Madison directed us to drive to a ranch-type house on
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: Kelvin Avenue. By the time we got there, it had
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: stopped raining. We parked the car and walked up to
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: the house. There were no lights on and no answer
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: when we rang the bell. All right, Madison, you two
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: playing games now?
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: Bank shot in the backyard.
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: What? Backyard. There's a barbecue out there.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: Bank's a tin can near there.
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: All right, show it. Sure. I used to live in
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: this house. I bet so. Yeah.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: I always figured that someday I was going to need
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: some money. One time I just went out and buried some.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: Figured there'd be a time when I was going to
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: need it.
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: It's a tin can near the barbecue.
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: What time are you here today?
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't have a watch.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: Didn't got any idea, huh?
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: Sorry.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: That catch is kind of tricky.
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: You got to pull it towards you.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: I always meant to fix that.
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: When we lifted. All right. Now, where's the barbecue?
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: The one you got a flashlight? Let me have it.
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: You tell us where you want it pointed.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: See, you don't trust anybody.
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: Where's the barbecue?
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: It's over in the corner of the yard right near
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: the fence.
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: Where? Over here?
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: Now, swing the light over to the left.
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: All right. There's nothing there.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: Maybe I made a mistake. It's been a while since
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: I've been here. There must be any other corner of
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: the yard.
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: Over here, huh? Yeah. All right. Take a good look.
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: You're not doing so good tonight, are you, Madison? I
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: don't understand.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: I saw it today.
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. Probably the owner of the house, huh? We'll check
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: with him.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: I sure don't understand it. Right in the corner of
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: the yard near the fence.
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: Any of you fellas you're looking for? Police officer, sir.
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: He tried the door. There wasn't anybody home.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: Can you tell me what this is all about?
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: You live here, do you? What are you looking for?
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: You know anything about a barbecue pit in the backyard here?
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what?
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: Want to tell us where it is?
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: I tore it down three months ago.
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: We returned Fred Madison to the office for further interrogation.
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: Frank and I attempted to talk to him without result.
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: He said he couldn't remember where he'd gotten the money.
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: He couldn't tell us where Jason Helmer was. We put
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: in a call to the missing man's home, but he
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: still hadn't returned. We rechecked the hospitals and the jails
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: without result. 1.14 a.m., we were ready to give it
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: up for the night. Frank went over to the office,
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: and I got Madison ready to leave.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: You're going to take me to jail now?
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: You call it. Come on. Joe. Hold it up, Madison.
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: What do you got? A call just came in about
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: a Helmer's car. They just found it. While men from
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: the business office took Madison over to the main jail
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: for booking, Frank and I drove out to the valley again.
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: Helmer's car had been found about a mile off the
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: Panky Canyon Boulevard on Farview Road. It was back off
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: the road and partially hidden by the trees. When we
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: got there, a radio car was standing by. We talked
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: to the officer. Take a look at the back.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: Stuff on the ground there.
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: I covered it with the boxes in case it started
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: to rain again.
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: That's good.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: These things here on the ground, I don't know if
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: they're going to mean anything.
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: You got anything we can use to open this trunk?
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: I'll check our car.
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: All right. What do you think? I don't know. Better
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: get in touch with the crime lab, have them come
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: out and go over the place. Yeah.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: I got something.
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: Try it. Mm-hmm. Thanks. Can you get it? Put that
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: light over here, will you? Yeah. How's that? Need some help? No.
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: I got it here. Once more ought to do it now. Yeah.
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: There we are. Let's get it open now.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: Hmm.
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: Thought maybe we'd be wrong. Yeah. We put in a
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: call to the crime lab and they came out and
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: made an investigation of the scene. From what we could tell,
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: Helmer had been killed by some sort of blunt instrument.
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: His empty wallet was in the trunk beside the body. 6.48 a.m.
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: We had Fred Madison brought from his cell. I feel lousy.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: My head feels like it don't belong to me. Why
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: don't you tell us the truth? You haven't told me
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: what this is about. There's no reason why I should
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: answer your questions if I don't know what you're trying
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: to get at.
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: I told you, we want the truth.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: All these questions over and over, the same things.
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: You can make it easy on yourself. Well, how? Come
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: up with the right answers. But I told you. Yeah,
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: like the bar you went to called the I Don't Know, huh?
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: I'd tell you the name if I knew. I've been
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: drinking pretty good.
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: I'll get it. Yeah. Here, Joe. Madison?
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: This is about your bank.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: What do you mean?
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: This explains where you got the money. What? When you
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: took the currency from Helmer's wallet, you left three perfect
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: prints on one of the celluloid envelopes.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: You mean something has happened to Helmer?
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: You tell us. Come on, you can drop the bluff.
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: These prints are enough to indict you. You want to
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: tell us?
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: He was going to send me to jail. I didn't
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: get the money at the track. I tried to get
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: him to give me some more time. Yeah.
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: I was so righteous about.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: It that I had enough time. He was going to
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: go to the police.
• 24:20
  Speaker 4: I pleaded with him, but he wouldn't listen.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: It happened real quick. Maybe if I hadn't been drinking,
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: it might not have been this way.
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: I don't know. Yeah.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: When I started to think about the big trouble I
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: was in, I figured it was all a.
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: Kind of money. Yeah, right.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: There really was a guy at the track, you know.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: He was going to loan me the money to pay home. Mm-hmm.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: If he'd have loaned me the money, it would have
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: solved everything.
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: There was another way.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: What do you mean?
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: That money you owed Helmer? Yeah. You could have worked
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: for it. The story you have just heard is true.
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: The names were changed to protect the innocent.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: On May 14th, trial was held in Department 92, Superior
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: Court of the State of California, in and for the
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: County of Los Angeles.
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: In a moment, the results of that trial.
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: Frederick Carson Madison was tried and convicted of murder in
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: the first degree and received sentence.
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: As prescribed by law. On recommendation of the.
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: Jury, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the state penitentiary,
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: San Quentin, California.
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: You have just heard Dragnet, a series.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: Of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: the office of Chief of Police W.H. Parker, Los Angeles
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: Police Department.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: We leave Los Angeles with Dragnet, episode 270, Big Mannequin.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: Follow Dragnet for more classic broadcasts.