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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: April 6th, 1954, NBC brought listeners Dragnet, episode 242, Big Saw.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: In Los Angeles, Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: of the LAPD robbery detail are assigned to a bank
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: holdup carried out by two masked gunmen. The victims can
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: offer little identification, so Friday and Smith turn to physical evidence,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: witness recollections, and a lead that reaches a car rental agency.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Jack Webb stars as Friday, with Ben Alexander as Frank Smith.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: John Robinson wrote the script, and Webb directed. From the
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: files of the Los Angeles Police Department, Dragnet. And now,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: our story begins.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: The End.
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Drag men.
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a robbery detail. Two
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: masked gunmen have held up a bank in your city.
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: The victims can't give you a.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Lead to their identity. Your job, find them. It was Tuesday,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: June 3rd. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: working the day watch out a robbery detail. My partner's
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Frank Smith. The boss is Chief Detective Stab Brown. My
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: name's Friday.
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: I was on my way back from the street, and
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: it was 8.47 a.m. when I got to the rear
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: of the bank, the manager's office.
• 1:41
  Speaker 5: I'm not a young woman anymore. I can't take this
• 1:43
  Speaker 5: kind of excitement.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am. You check with them? Yeah. They got the
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: broadcast out right away. Long shot if it pays off. Yeah.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: How much of a description?
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: I hope you're not saying that for my benefit, young man.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: I gave you all I could.
• 1:54
  Speaker 5: It was hard to see their faces with those scarves on.
• 1:57
  Speaker 5: Maybe you could have done better, but I couldn't.
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: We're not trying to say that you didn't do good, ma'am.
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: We understand the handicap that you were under.
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: I should hope so. Terrible thing. I'm not a young
• 2:05
  Speaker 5: woman anymore.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am. Now, would you tell us just exactly what
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: happened now, right from the beginning?
• 2:10
  Speaker 5: You mean starting when I come in this morning?
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am, that's right.
• 2:13
  Speaker 5: Eight o'clock, just like always. That's when I got here.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Uh-huh.
• 2:16
  Speaker 5: Opened the door with McKee and came right on in,
• 2:18
  Speaker 5: a little suspecting what was waiting for me. I tell you,
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: I was pretty surprised when they popped out at me.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: You didn't see them at first then, huh?
• 2:25
  Speaker 5: Of course not. You think I would have come in
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: if I'd have seen them?
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: No, ma'am.
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: Certainly not. Never would have come in.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: When did you first see the two men?
• 2:32
  Speaker 5: I came in and locked the door behind me. Rules
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: say you've got to lock the door. I did, and
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: then I went back to the clothes closet to hang
• 2:39
  Speaker 5: up my coat and umbrella.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: I see. Go ahead.
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: Kind of silly, I guess, carrying an umbrella on a
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: day like this, but I always do. You never know.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am.
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: People always kind of smirk at me for carrying one,
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: but whenever it rains out of a clear sky, they
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: don't smirk then. I'm always the center of a crowd.
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: You just bet you.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am. Would you go ahead with what happened, please?
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: Well, I hung up my umbrella and my coat, and
• 2:59
  Speaker 5: then I came out the main part of the bank,
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: right out where those two assassins were.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: And that's when you saw them, is that right? Oh, no.
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: They were cagey. They waited until I was away from
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: the alarm system. They were real sly.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: I see. Go ahead.
• 3:12
  Speaker 5: I walked out the table. You know where the deposit
• 3:14
  Speaker 5: slips are, out in the center?
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am.
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: Out there. I walked out straightened up. It really isn't
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: my job, but I didn't have anything else to do,
• 3:21
  Speaker 5: so I thought I'd maybe just check and see if
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: any of the points needed new nibs. I like a
• 3:26
  Speaker 5: neat place. You know, all the slips in the right place,
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: blotters all clean and new.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Neat. Yes, ma'am, I understand. When did you see the thieves?
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: As I was straightening up the counter. That's when they
• 3:36
  Speaker 5: stepped out in the open.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Where were they, ma'am?
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: Over in the escrow department, hiding behind the desks, I guess.
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: That's the direction they came from.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: I see. Now, what did they say to you?
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: The big one. He looked at me with his steely
• 3:48
  Speaker 5: eyes and told me to be quiet and nothing would happen.
• 3:51
  Speaker 5: Said to be just quiet. I'm not young anymore, Sergeant.
• 3:55
  Speaker 5: A thing like that can be a tremendous shock.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am. Were both of the men together at that time?
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: I don't understand.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Well, did they both come out from behind the counter?
• 4:03
  Speaker 6: Oh, yes.
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: The big one had a machine gun, and the other,
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: the little scrum one, had a pistol.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Are you positive the big one had a machine gun?
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: Listen, young man, I've seen enough movies and television to
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: know a machine gun when I see it. Don't you
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: think I don't?
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: Now, about the pistol, was it a revolver or an automatic?
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: What?
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Well, look here. Did it look like this, this gun
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: of mine?
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: No. No, it wasn't like that. It was more the
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: kind you see in movies. More mean-looking than that. Real mean-looking,
• 4:30
  Speaker 5: kind of flat-like.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: I see. It was an automatic then, huh?
• 4:33
  Speaker 5: Well, I don't know what it was, but it was
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: real mean. And furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if there
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: were real bullets in it. Not in the least.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: All right. Now, after they came out from behind the counter,
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: what happened?
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: They asked me what time the rest of the staff
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: came in.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: I told them, any time. That seemed to make them happy.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Why do you say that?
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: Because one of them, the big one, turned to the
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: little runt and said, just like clockwork. That's what he said.
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: Just like clockwork. I'm going to tell you something. Sort
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: of a clue.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am. What's that?
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: These fellas been planning this a long time. They knew
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: all about how the bank works. What time everybody comes
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: in and all. They even knew about the keys.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: What keys?
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: The ones to the bank door. They knew who had them.
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: First thing they wanted to know after they asked about
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: the staff was where my key was.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: You have a key to the vault?
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: No, not to the vault itself. Just to the doors
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: in front of it. You know the barred doors in
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: front of the vault door? Yes, ma'am. To those.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Did you give the men your key?
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: I didn't have much to say about it. I told you,
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: I think they might have had real bullets in those guns,
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: and I wasn't about to make sure.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am.
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: After all, I pay my taxes. Catching those fellas is
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: your job, not mine. If you want to cash a check,
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: I can take care of you. But I'm not about
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: to go out and apprehend no thieves.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am. What happened then?
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: You mean after I gave them the key?
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: That's right, yes.
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: They made me get off to one side of the
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: front doors and wait for the rest of the staff.
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: As they'd come in, the hold-up men would make them
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: get into the closet in the rear of the bank,
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: where I hung my umbrella.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: But they let you stay outside, did they?
• 6:04
  Speaker 6: Oh, yes.
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: They had me right up in front, where those guns
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: pointed at me every second. Every second. I guess they
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: wanted me to act as kind of a decoy.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: Well.
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: Well, when the other people who work in the bank
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: came up to the door, they could look inside and
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: see me standing there. That way, I guess they thought
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: there wasn't anything wrong. Came right in, like lambs to
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: the slaughter. Next thing they knew, there was a gun
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: in their ribs and they was locked up in the closet.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: What time did the manager come in? Poor Mr.
• 6:33
  Speaker 5: Blanton. He's not well, you know. He's not well at all.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am. We saw him out front.
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: Is he all right? He had an awful attack. Bad heart.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Well, they've taken him to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital.
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: Did they find his pills? What's that? His pills. Mr.
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: Blanton had a special kind of pills he takes when
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: he has an attack. Some kind of explosive. Always has
• 6:52
  Speaker 5: them with him. Did the men find him?
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Well, I guess they did or else they had the
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: necessary medication with him. He's going to be all right.
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: Just needs some rest.
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: I'm glad of that. Sweet man. Widower.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: What happened when he came in? Mr.
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: Blanton?
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am.
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: Well, he was just about pulled right in off the streets.
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: He just got his key in the door, and they
• 7:12
  Speaker 5: practically just yanked him right in. Right away, wandered his
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: key to the vault door. You have to have both
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: of them in order to open it. Both of them
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: have to be turned at the same time. They asked
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: him for his key. At first, he didn't want to
• 7:23
  Speaker 5: give it to them. Told them to get out of
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: his bank and to stop the foolishness. Just like that,
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: he told them. I thought they were going to shoot him,
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: but they didn't. I think if it hadn't been for
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: the big one, they would have. The scrawny one wanted to.
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: Wanted to kill Mr. Blanton right in cold blood. But
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: the big one stopped him. Said to just get on
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: with the job and get out of there. That's what
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: he said. To get out of there. That's when Mr.
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: Blanton passed out. Cold. Right on the floor.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Attack. Do you want to go ahead?
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: Well, I guess they just about had a fight between
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: themselves over that.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: Well, how do you mean?
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: The big one really read the runt off. Told him
• 7:59
  Speaker 5: he was stupid for making poor Mr. Blanton pass out.
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: Said that now they'd have to wait for the combination.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: Of the safe.
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: But I stopped that. Oh, then. I gave them the combination.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: You told them how to open the safety?
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: Certainly.
• 8:11
  Speaker 6: With poor Mr.
• 8:12
  Speaker 5: Blanton laying there on the floor, all I could think
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: about was them getting out of there. That's all that
• 8:15
  Speaker 5: was important.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: That's when they opened the safe, didn't they?
• 8:18
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Went right over to Mr. Blanton and got his
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. By then,
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: the lock had switched off and they just opened up
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: the vault and went in. Cleaned it right out. Just
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: scooped up the money and put it in the black
• 8:30
  Speaker 5: bag and left. First off, of course. They locked me
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: up in the closet with the others, and then they left.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Now, who turned in the alarm?
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: I guess it was Mr.
• 8:39
  Speaker 6: Blanton.
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: He was laying on the floor where he'd fell. I
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: guess he came to and up to get to the
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: alarm system and turn it on. Must have been him.
• 8:47
  Speaker 5: Wasn't anybody else who could have done it.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: During the time the men were in the bank, did
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: you hear them using any names?
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: I don't think I understand what you mean.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: Well, do they call each other by name at any time?
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: Not that I heard.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Is it important? Well, it helps.
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: I didn't hear him use any, but if worse comes
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: to worse, I can do something about it.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am.
• 9:03
  Speaker 5: I've got a couple for him.
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: We obtained a complete description of the holdup pair and
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: a supplemental broadcast was put out. The crime lab crew
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: came out to the scene and went over the premises
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: for physical evidence. From their investigation, we found that the
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: bandits had made their entrance through a rear window. They'd
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: sawed through the steel bars and broken the glass. From there,
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: they'd come in and apparently had waited for the employees
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: to arrive. We'd ascertain from the cashier that both men
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: had worn gloves, so there was no chance of getting
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: any fingerprints. In the dirt on the alley pavement, Lee
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: Jones was able to find several good impressions of footprints.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: These were photographed and booked as evidence.
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: Because of their placement, it was more than likely that
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: they belonged to the thieves. Also in the alley, he
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: found several broken hacksaw blades.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: These were booked, their numbers noted, and a request sent
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: to the manufacturer for the name of the store that
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: had sold them.
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: The other employees of the bank were questioned and they
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: verified the story.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: And the description that we'd gotten from the cashier.
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: The stats office started a run on the MOUs and
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: the victims were taken downtown and asked to go through
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: the mug books. They were not able to give us
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: an identification of the thieves. That afternoon at 3.47 p.m.,
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: Frank and I met back in the squad room.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Hi. Hi. How'd the stats office do? Well, I got
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: the list right here. Eighteen possibles. Yeah. Any of them
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: look good? Couple. Skipper around? No. He went over to
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: the inspector's office. Anything special?
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: Well, I wanted to check with him on who's going
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: to work with us on this thing.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Well, he left word. Murph and Gaffney are with us.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: We can use Pinky and Stromwell if we need them.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Is Murph around? No, he went down to R & I.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: He had a hunch this might tie in with the
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: heist they worked on last month. Same M.O. Figured he
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: might as well check it out. Well, as soon as
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: he gets back, maybe he'll give us a hand with
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: this list, huh? Yeah. Yeah. How about the bank manager?
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Any word there? I called Georgia Street, talked with Dr. Sebastian.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: He said Bland has been released to his own doctor.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: What kind of conditions is he in? Should be able
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: to talk to him tonight. Guess it was a pretty
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: bad attack. Sebastian said he was in rough shape. Well,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: let's check out. We can tag Murph in the hall.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Was Gaffney with him? He was. All right, let's go.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: You want to sign us out? Yeah. I got it.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Robbery Friday. Yeah, he's here. Just a minute. For you, Frank. Okay.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Want to take care of the book? Yeah. Who is it?
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: He didn't say. He just wanted to talk to you. Oh.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: Smith speaking. Yeah, that's right.
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: Huh?
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, sure we can. Yes, sir, we can right away.
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: Hmm?
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: Want to give me that address? Uh-huh. Yes, sir. Okay,
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: thank you. I have it. Yeah, right away. Goodbye. It's
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Blanton's doctor. Yeah. Says he wants to see us right away. Yeah,
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: what about?
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: Well, Blanton says he remembers that when the thieves left
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: the bank, a customer came up to the door.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah. He heard the big one tell the other one
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: to take off his mask.
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: Uh-huh.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: The customer got a good look at both of them.
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: We left the office immediately and drove over to the
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: bank manager's home. We talked with his doctor and we
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: obtained permission to.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Ask a few questions.
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: Blanton told us that as the two thieves had left
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: the bank, a woman passerby had noticed the bank manager's
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: key still in the front door lock. She'd stopped and
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: knocked at the door to notify someone in.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: The bank about the keys.
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: As she did, the two hold-up men had taken off
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: their masks and passed directly in front of her. We
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: asked Blanton if he knew the woman, but he said
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: that he'd never seen her before. We asked if it
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: was possible that she might be a customer of his bank.
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: He said it was possible that he'd just never seen
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: her before. He gave us her description and we started
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: to check with the bank employees in the hopes that
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: one of them could identify her.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: None of them could.
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: We got out a supplemental bulletin asking that the woman
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: be picked up. In the meantime, officers Murphy and Rafferty
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: had checked out the list of possibles that.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: The stats office had come up with.
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: All of the names on the list either had alibis
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: or could establish that they were not near the bank when.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: It was robbed. We checked all FI cards filed in
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: the area without results.
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: Frank and I checked out of the office at 12,
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: 18 a.m. and went home to get some sleep.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: The next day, Wednesday, June 3rd, Frank was waiting for
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: me when I got to work. Don't sit down. We've
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: got a call to make. Yeah? Marie Logan called. You
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: remember the rental car agent out in the valley? Oh, yeah.
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: She gave us a hand on the identity of that
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: young fellow that knocked over the liquor store out at
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: Silderman Apple, wasn't it?
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: That's the one. Well, what's she got? Might be nothing,
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: but we ought to check it out. Uh-huh. Says it's
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: a woman who hangs around the local bars mooching drinks.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: Never got a dime. Yeah? She came in to see
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: Marie yesterday afternoon. Wanted to rent a car to drive
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: to New York. Where do we fit in? She wanted
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: to pay in advance. Offered Marie brand new $ 100 bills.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: From the statement we'd gotten from the bank, we knew that.
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: In the $ 34, 000 the thieves had taken, there were several
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: thousand dollars in $ 100 bills. Frank and I signed out
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: of the office and drove out to the San Fernando Valley.
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: At the corner of Valley Heart Boulevard and Dickens, we
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: found Marie Logan's rental agency. There was a line of
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: late model cars in front of the lot, and at
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: the rear, we found a small wooden building. Frank knocked
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: at the door, and we waited.
• 13:54
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Oh, hi. It's you. Hello, Miss Logan. Miss Logan.
• 13:57
  Speaker 6: Hi, Sergeant. Come on in.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Thanks very much.
• 14:00
  Speaker 6: I sure hope I haven't brought you guys out here
• 14:02
  Speaker 6: in a wild goose.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: I hope it works out. All right. Do you want
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: to fill us in?
• 14:06
  Speaker 6: This woman named Betty Gallick hangs around the bars in
• 14:09
  Speaker 6: the neighborhood, spends her time catching drinks.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Real bum. Why do you figure we might be interested?
• 14:15
  Speaker 6: A couple of times, she'd come in to rent a
• 14:16
  Speaker 6: car just to use around pounds.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: First two times, I was stuck. How do you mean? Checks.
• 14:21
  Speaker 6: She'd pay the deposit with a check. Then when she
• 14:23
  Speaker 6: brought the car back, she'd pay the bill by check.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: I see.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Check it, bounce.
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: Then when I'd call her, she'd come in and pick
• 14:28
  Speaker 6: it up and give me the cash to cover it.
• 14:30
  Speaker 6: That was the only reason I didn't turn it over
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: to you. She always paid up.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Now, this time, she had the cash, though.
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 14:36
  Speaker 6: Came in, wanted a new Lincoln to drive her to
• 14:37
  Speaker 6: New York. She was dressed like always. Cheap cotton dress,
• 14:41
  Speaker 6: cloth coat, even had the imitation leather purse. Kind of
• 14:44
  Speaker 6: supposed to look like real leather, but as soon as
• 14:45
  Speaker 6: you get inside 10 feet, you know what it is.
• 14:47
  Speaker 6: You know what I mean? That kind. Well, anyway, when
• 14:50
  Speaker 6: she asked for the car, I told her I couldn't
• 14:52
  Speaker 6: let her have it. Said I'd been stung too many
• 14:54
  Speaker 6: times before. So right off, she said she wanted to
• 14:57
  Speaker 6: pay cash. That's when she opened this crummy purse and
• 15:00
  Speaker 6: the dough almost fell out. Must have had a couple
• 15:02
  Speaker 6: of thousand dollars in there, maybe more.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: Well, you said something on the phone about $ 100 bills.
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 15:07
  Speaker 6: She pulled out a couple of them to show me
• 15:08
  Speaker 6: she could pay cash. I asked her where she got them.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: What'd you say to that?
• 15:12
  Speaker 6: Said it wasn't any of my business. Told me as
• 15:14
  Speaker 6: long as she had the money and a driver's license,
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: I should order under the car. I thought I ought
• 15:18
  Speaker 6: to check with you first.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: You got an address on this Gaelic woman? Yeah.
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: After I called this morning, I checked through the records.
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: Got her home address and a driver's license number.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: She got any friends you know of?
• 15:28
  Speaker 6: Just about on every bar stool where she hung out.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: I mean anyone special.
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: Oh, I don't know. I saw her a couple of
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: times with the same guy in the place down at
• 15:35
  Speaker 6: the corner. Hot days. I sometimes go down there for
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: a beer.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 15:39
  Speaker 6: Well, I've seen her there with this one guy a
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: couple of times.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Do you know who he is?
• 15:42
  Speaker 6: No, not his name. I've seen the two of them
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: drive away together a couple of times. He's got a
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: flashy convertible. Guess he drove it out here.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: What do you mean?
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: The car's got a New York license plate. Oh, excuse me.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am. Go ahead.
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: Logan Reynolds Service.
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: Uh-huh. Yeah, I know her. Yeah. You sure about that?
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: Sure. Okay.
• 16:07
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: Thanks. Goodbye.
• 16:11
  Speaker 6: That tears it.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: What's wrong?
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: There was a rental agency in Hollywood. Called to ask
• 16:15
  Speaker 6: me about Betty Gallick. Seemed she gave me as a reference.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: Came into their place and rented a car from them.
• 16:20
  Speaker 6: Paid cash for it.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Was she there now? No.
• 16:23
  Speaker 6: She left for New York this morning.
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: We contacted the rental agency that had leased the car
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: to Betty Gallick. From them, we got a description of
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: the car and the license number. We put out a
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: local and an all-points bulletin on the vehicle. We got
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: in touch with the New York authorities and asked them
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: to be on the lookout for the car.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: We got the Gallick.
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: Woman's address from the rental agency and we checked out
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: her house. We found nothing to give us any indication
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: as to where she might have gone, but we did
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: find a silk scarf similar to the one described by
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: the victims as having been worn by the holdup men.
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: We checked with the neighbors, but none of them could
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: tell us where Betty Gallick had gone. Two days went
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: by while we followed down every lead that turned up.
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: The information from the crime lab was checked out, but
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: it led us nowhere. The serial numbers on the hacksaw
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: blades had come back, but when we talked to the
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: store owner, he was unable to tell us who had
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: bought them. Saturday at 12 noon, a meeting was held
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: in the offices of Thad Brown. Members of the Federal
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: Bureau of Investigation were there. They had agents working on
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: the case, but they hadn't been able to come up
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: with any more information than we'd gotten.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: 2.14 p.m. Frank and I got back to the office.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: Let's see for sure, man. Well, do you blame him?
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: We haven't got very much.
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: Well, it seems like every time we do get a
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: lead worth anything, it goes to nothing.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Well, it's got to end someplace. I got it. Robbery Friday. Yeah.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: We did? No, when? Yeah, right. No, I'll be right
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: down to pick it up. Yeah, thanks. Bye. How's communications?
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: They just got a wire from Chicago. Yeah. They picked
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: up the Gaelic woman.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: Betty Gallick had been picked up south of Chicago and
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: held in answer to our communication. However, when she was
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: picked up, she was in the company of two other women.
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: They were identified as her sisters. We made arrangements to
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: talk to her by long-distance telephone. As soon as we
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: started to ask her questions regarding the bank robbery, she
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: admitted being the driver of.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: The getaway car. She told us that the theft.
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: Had been planned by a man she knew only as Deans.
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: She was unable to tell us any more about him.
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: She went on to say that she'd met him in
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: a bar in the valley along with the other two men.
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: She identified these two men as Richard and Matt. She
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: was unable to give us their last names or tell
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: us any more about them. She did say, however, that
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: Matt was from New York and that as far as
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: she knew, he was there at the time. She went
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: on to say that he was not with the trio
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: when the bank was held up. We questioned her further,
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: but she was unable to give us any additional information
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: on the three men. She did, however, tell us that
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: they had stayed at a motel located on Sepulveda Boulevard.
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: She gave us the name and the approximate location.
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: She was detained pending extradition in Chicago. Saturday evening, Frank
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: and I drove out to the motel that the Gaelic
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: woman had mentioned.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: We rang the bell and waited. Yeah? Lights on. We
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: got no vacancies. Police officers. We want to ask you
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: some questions. What about? A couple of men who stayed here.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: Anybody in this place who's.
• 19:18
  Speaker 7: Got trouble with the cops has to get out.
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: You tell me who they are and I'll throw them
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: right at you.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: I don't want no trouble. Now, who are you looking for?
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: One of them's tall. The other's short. Named Dean and Richard.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: What about the last name? We haven't got that. I
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: don't need it. I know who you mean.
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: Sure. Dean Franklin, Dick Norton. A couple of no good.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: They ain't here no more. You know where they are?
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I think maybe I got an address
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: in my desk. Come on in. Thank you. I'm Jim Allison. Well,
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: it's Frank Smith. My name's Friday.
• 19:42
  Speaker 5: What have the boys done?
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Just routine. We want to talk to them. You won't
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: tell me, huh? Well, it'd be better if we talked
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: to them about it. Have it your own way. I
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: don't want to get mixed up. up in anything.
• 19:50
  Speaker 7: Those boys got themselves a bucket of trouble. I want
• 19:52
  Speaker 7: no part of it. While I was here, they paid
• 19:54
  Speaker 7: their rent and didn't cause much trouble. That's all I
• 19:56
  Speaker 7: was interested in, as long as they didn't cause any trouble.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: Yes, sir. How long ago did they leave? I guess
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: about a week ago. I got it in the books.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: I can check it for you if you want. Yes, sir.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: We'd like to have the information. Sure, I'll get it
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: for you. Do they have any visitors while they were here? No.
• 20:07
  Speaker 7: A couple of guys come around in the morning.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: That's about it, though. Look like bill collectors.
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: The boys never let them inside.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: Used to talk on the porch. Three of them move
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: out at the same time?
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: No.
• 20:16
  Speaker 7: Matt left a couple of days before. Said he was
• 20:17
  Speaker 7: going back east. I think he had some kind of
• 20:19
  Speaker 7: a job back there. They wasn't real chummy, you know.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Kind of kept to themselves. All right, sir. Would you
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: see if you got that address where they might be? Oh, sure.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Forgot all about it. It's in the desk, I think.
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: Always running into this kind of thing with a motel.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, sir. What's that? Wrong people renting rooms.
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: We got no way of checking on them.
• 20:36
  Speaker 7: Seems like whenever somebody's got trouble, they pick a motel
• 20:38
  Speaker 7: to have it, and it never ends.
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: Let's see.
• 20:42
  Speaker 6: Yeah, here it is.
• 20:43
  Speaker 7: They left this in case I got any mail for them,
• 20:45
  Speaker 7: so just to send it on.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: Here you are. Thank you.
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: That's a place out in West Los Angeles.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much, sir. Glad to help out. You
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: can't tell me what this is about, huh? No, sir.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: It's police business. You figure you're going to have any
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: trouble with them? Well, it's hard to say, depending on
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: how they want it. Well, if I was you, I'd
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: take it easy picking them up. Why? Because I know
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: Franklin's got a gun.
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: We obtained the license number and a description of the
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: car that the suspects had driven. It was a late
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: model convertible with New York license plate. Before we left
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: the motel, we called R & I and checked the
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: names Dean Franklin and Richard Norton. We found that both
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: of them had long felony records. We talked to Captain
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: Donahoe and had two more teams of men sent out
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: from the office to meet us at the address that
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: we'd gotten.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: From the motel manager.
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: From what we knew of the two men, taking them
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: into custody would be difficult. Frank and I left the
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: motel and drove out to the address in West Los Angeles.
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: It was a one-story wooden building set well back on
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: a weed-filled lot. A late model car was in the driveway.
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: Ten minutes after we got there, officers Murphy, Rafferty, Meade,
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: and Lightner met us. Murphy had brought two sawed-off shotguns
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: loaded with double-aught buck and several tear gas grenades. The
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: only chance we had of taking them in without bloodshed
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: was to use the one element on our side.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: Surprise.
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: Murphy and Rafferty went around to the street at the
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: back of the house, and Lightner took the other. When
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: all of us were in position, Frank and I prepared
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: to move.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Up to the front door. You all set? Just a minute.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: All right, let's go. I don't see anything. No, I
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: might have seen it. You better take it easy.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: All right, let's make it for the porch. Yeah. Come on.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: You okay? Yeah. All right, now I'll take the door.
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: When we get inside, you go to the left, I'll
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: handle the right side.
• 22:41
  Speaker 5: Right. All set?
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah. How about it? Nothing. Place is empty.
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: We searched the house, but we found no trace of
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: the suspects. From the clothing in the closets, we figured
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: that they had not moved out. And going over the house,
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: we found a machine gun hidden in one of the bedrooms.
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: The cartridge clip was loaded, and the gun was ready
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: for use. We pulled the clip, called the office, and
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: told them where we were, and then we settled down
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: to wait for the suspects to return. Murphy and Rafferty
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: covered the rear approaches to the house. Meade and Leitner
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: were in cars parked down the street, and Frank and
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: I waited in the front room. At 10.46 p.m., the
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: phone in the house rang three times.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: And then it stopped.
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: We waited for Franklin and Norton to come back. 11 p.m.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: 11.30. It's cold in the house. Midnight.
• 23:37
  Speaker 8: 12.30.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: The phone rang again. 12.45. From down the street, we
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: heard a car approach. Joe? Yeah. You see anything? Just
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: a minute. Pull that curtain back. It's a Ford sedan
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: coming down this way. Pulled into the driveway. Wait a minute.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: That's them. Just the two of them? Near as I
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: can tell, yeah. They're getting out of the car. Yeah.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: How about Leitner and me? Yeah, they see them. They're
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: starting to get out of the car down there. Better
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: cover the door. They're coming in. Right. Police officers. Stand still.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Get me a loan, Frank. All of them. Hey, Leitner.
• 24:17
  Speaker 5: He's coming at you.
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: All of them.
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: Bring on Frank.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: All right, Frank. Don't turn around. How'd you get to us?
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: Who told you? Put your hands behind me.
• 24:26
  Speaker 6: Who told you we were here?
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Somebody had to tell you. You'd never have got us
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: without somebody tipping you. It was that lush Betty, wasn't it?
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: It was her that told you. All right, outside. Come on, move.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Had to be her. She was the only one that knew.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: Had to be her. You'd never have made it without her.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: You're wrong. Huh? We'd have made it. Come on.
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: The story you have just heard is true. The names
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: were changed to protect the innocent.
• 24:56
  Speaker 8: On November 14th, trial was held in Department 92, Superior
• 24:59
  Speaker 8: Court of the State of California, in and for the
• 25:01
  Speaker 8: County of Los Angeles. Dean Roger Franklin, Richard Henry Norton,
• 25:14
  Speaker 8: and Betty Elaine Gellick were tried and convicted of.
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: Robbery in the first degree.
• 25:19
  Speaker 8: Robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in
• 25:22
  Speaker 8: the state penitentiary for a.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: Period of from five years to life.
• 25:25
  Speaker 8: Further investigation showed that Matthew Arthur Ross had no part
• 25:29
  Speaker 8: or knowledge of the crime.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: You have just heard Dragnet, the authentic story of your
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: police force in action, and starring Jack Webb, a presentation
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: That was Dragnet, episode 242, Big Saw. This is Victor Sterling.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Until next time, good night.