Latest / Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas / Dragnet: The Big Girl (EP1508)

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Dragnet: The Big Girl (EP1508) · Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas

0:28
Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This
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is your host, Adam Graham. If you have a comment, email it
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dot Great Detectives dot net. You can also mail me a check to Adam
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Graham peelbox one five nine one three, Boise, Idaho eight three seven one
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five. That's Adam Graham, peel Box one five nine one three, Boise,
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Idaho eight three seven one five. During our listener support campaign, in
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addition to sending access to the premium site, which we do with all donations
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of seven dollars or more, at the twenty dollars level, we will send
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you your choice of seven different ebooks I've written, plus an additional thank you
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gift, and among the thank you gifts we do have available at the twenty
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dollars level, I'll send you my latest ebook All I needed to know I
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learned from Dragnet, in which I examine twenty life lessons that can be learned
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from great detectives and policemen of television, radio, and literature, including Poirot
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and of course Joe Friday. And at the one hundred dollars level, if
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you're in the US or in Canada, I will send you your choice of
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the nineteen fifty four Dragnet movie or seasons one, two, three, or
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four of the nineteen sixty series, my favorite being season two. If you
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don't have that, but definitely something to get and you can support the show
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at support dot Great Detectives dot net. Well, now it's time for today's
2:29
episode of Dragnet. The original air at eight February the ninth of nineteen fifty
2:35
The title the Big Girl. The story you were about to hear is true,
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only the names have been changed to protect the innocent Dragnet. You're a
3:00
detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery Detail. Sixteen persons have been robbed and
3:07
beaten senseless. The victims describe the assailant as a tall, beautiful woman.
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Your job stopp her, Ladies and gentlemen, next week marks the beginning of
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National Crime Prevention Week, sponsored by your local police department. These seven days
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are set aside to call your attention to the fact that you're a police officer.
3:31
To better ensure the safety of your community relies on the cooperation of the
3:37
individual citizen. We feel that crime prevention should be observed not seven, but
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three hundred and sixty five days a year. Drag Nets the document a drama
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of an actual crime. For the next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the
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Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step by step on the side of
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the law through an actual case from official police files, from beginning to end,
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from crime to punishment. Dragnet is the story of your police force in
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action. It was Wednesday, October third. It was warm in Los Angeles.
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We're working the night Watch out of robbery detail. My partner's Ben Romero.
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The boss is Thad Brown, Chief of Detectives. My name is Friday.
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We were on the way over from the City Hall and it was six
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fifty five pm when we got to the County Hospital, Ward ninety eight hundred,
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Room twelve. Bet Wait, gentlemen, thank you here we are.
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Please try not to excite him, sergeant, he's had a pretty hard time.
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Yes, ma'am, thank you, thank your visit as brief as possible.
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We will thank mister Maloney. How are you feeling? That's so good
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you fellows, doctors, No, sir, police officers. This Sergeant Romero.
5:00
My name's Friday, Robbery Detail. Oh find out anything yet? Still
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checking, mister Maloney. We'd like to have you tell us exactly what happened
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now before that, well, she sure had me full. That's all I
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can say. You're not the first one, fifteen others ahead of you.
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Would you tell us what happened? Well? I left the shop, left
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to midnight, and I started to drive home at Central eleven. You work
5:24
at Maloney's Steakhouse down on South Commercial. Is that right? Yes? And
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my uncle owns the place. His name is Jay Brown Maloney. He knows
5:31
a lot of cops. You know him. We met him this afternoon.
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Could you tell us what happened after you left work? Well? I started
5:39
to drive home at Central eleven, and I guess it must have been around
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eighteenth Street. Would you push it? Pull up a little, yes,
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sir, I got it here. Thanks. I pulled up for the arterial
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and I saw this girl standing on the corner. She was hitchhiking. Do
5:58
you remember what she looked like? How she was dressed, you know,
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kind of flashy but nice clothes, good lucking dame, tall, long blonde
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hair, beautiful eyes. You're sure about the color of her hair? Yeah,
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it was blond. And did you offered her a ride? I didn't
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think there was anything wrong. And then I'm a married man, you know,
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I didn't think it was anything wrong. What happened then, well,
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she got in a car and we drove off. We talked a while,
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and she pulled a gun on me, told me to drive up an alley.
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Where was that do you remember? Around thirty second Street? Thirty second
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at Centro? Then what she took my wallet, watched cock keys, everything
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I had, and she made me get out of the car, lay down
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on the street. I felt a shove that gun again. Can't you fix
6:58
that pillow? Just lying still? Yeah? I felt a ship that kind
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of got see and she pulled the trigger. I guess that's all I remember.
7:08
You don't recall her slugging must have happened after she shot me. Her
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face looks pretty bad. Huh, you'll be all right, mister maloney,
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you think you would recognize the girl if you saw her again? I sure
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would. Nice looking, you know, it's tall, blind, beautiful,
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shape doesn't figure, does it. What's that she'd make more money on the
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stage than she would rollin? Guys like me must be crazy. Maybe would
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you look at these mug shots, mister maloney and see if any of these
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look like her? Let's see, yeah, this one, no, this
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one, no, let's see now, how about this one? She was
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better looking? Here's the last one. I don't know. This might be
8:09
her hair was fixed right, maybe maybe a little more make up. I'm
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not sure. All right, mister maloney, Thank you. We'll be back
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to seeing and there so when you're feeling better. Okay, say my name
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won't be in the papers? Well, you know, sure not unless you
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give it to him. I was just wondering the wife might not understand giving
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a girl a ride, you know, yes, sir, we know.
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Thank you, mister maloney. We'll be checking back with you later on.
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Okay, officer, I hope you get a line on that day. We're
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gonna try. Goodbye. Sure, I'm messed up, and yeah, that
8:43
dame's got some other motive besides money, SYCHO, some kind of a sadees
8:48
may be there. Find out what you wanted such, Yes we did,
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Thanks nurse. What do the doctor say about Maloney? Is he gonna be
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all right? Well, he had a severe beating, but he'll get over
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that, all right. The bullet wound the back, you recover warning.
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The bullet shattered part of the spinal cord. There was nothing the doctor could
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do. Yeah, parapleacho, you'll never walk again. We left the County
9:13
hospital, went back to the office and got out a local broadcast for the
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woman whose mugshot Maloney had partially identified. Her name was Beverly Allen. She
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had a record of three arrests and one conviction of two forty PC assault and
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battery. After we checked in the office, we went across the street to
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the crime lab. Lee Jones had already examined the bullet taken from Maloney's spine
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and the cartridge casing found at the scene of the shooting. Both of them
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bore the same markings as those which had wounded the two previous victims. From
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the striations, the gun had been previously identified as a forty five cold Maloney's
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car was examined. We found nothing. We went back to the city Hall
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and checked in at the stats office. Was eight thirty five pm. Hi,
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Ethel, make that run for us here. You got to hear that,
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Roger. Hi you coming, ethel h I'm here. Let's say we'll
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run back seven years on this one. Yeah, that's right. Did you
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get any more names? Thank you? Let me check the list for you,
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all right? Well, the names and dr numbers on caucasion, women
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five feet to five feet, eight hundred and fifteen, two hundred and thirty
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pounds, twenty to thirty years, blonde or brunette, assault and battery,
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m hitchhicks, rides and robs, drivers, uses gun. Yeah, i'
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you here's what the machine turned out. Nineteen of'em. Good. Here
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are the names, the DR numbers opposite each one. Fine, very new
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name more than the last time. Anything else for the night. No,
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that's it for now. Thanks a lot of them. Let's go ye bad
10:54
start. How's that? Seventeen of these names we checked and cleared already.
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And the other two the one's Catherine Collins, the other one's Beverly Allen.
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She might tie in. They've got nothing else to go on do you want
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to get to the record bureau and pull the packages on these two names.
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Yeah, okay, I'll check robbery and see if we have any calls.
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Right, Hi, Kepvin, any calls for us? Just one bad Brown
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wants to see you. Oh, bad mood kinda wants me too. Let's
11:26
go, Fella Maloney tell you anything. Nothing to help much, same old
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story. No reports on that broadcast we put out for that, Beverly Allen.
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That's yet. No, you're banking on it. It's first lead in
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sixteen nights. Here we are, Walker, Fridday, go the oh are
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you boss? Sit down? We'll take a look. Woman bandit get sixteenth
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victim, beautiful hold up, queen Rob's shoots, restaurant worker. Yeah,
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it's on the editorial page too. Something else. Another from the chief here,
12:11
let her from the Downtown Citizens Committee, another one Civic club. They
12:16
all want answers. Men are doing all they can. Chief. We got
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two other teams besides Friday and Romero working the case. Special squad from Metropolitan
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Division. They're on it too. I don't care what we've done. We've
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got to do more. Sixteen night, sixteen robberies and three shootings. Three
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victims still in the hospital. When do we blow the whistle on it?
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Checked out every possible lead. Chief, We've got a wand out on one
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suspect. We're checking out another one. Talk to that man Maloney one she
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got last night. Well what did he tell you? Well more than the
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other fifteen and she took descriptions still don't match in one respect. Well,
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how do you mean well? In ten of the sixteen cases we've had reported,
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the victims tag the girl hitchhiker is a blonde, long hair. Four
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of them say she was a brunette with a short hairdoo. Two of them
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tell us the girl had red hair long she's using wigs, that's what we
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figured. Checked every place in town where she could have rented her bottom no
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leads. Uh, what about some of the bigger supply houses. Uh?
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Out of town. We've started in checking him and take a little time and
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you've got practically nothing on the women, same gun forty five co Lee Jones.
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Examine the bullet they took out a Maloney's spine. Mm, how's he
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doing? Not good? Bullets smashed his spinal cord. His legs are paralyzed.
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When do we stop her? Uh? Uh? Oh now, hi,
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geef, cap'n. What have you got? Pull the packages on two
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possibles and this woman hold up? Then it's no good, Joe, why
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not? What about that? Allen Dame? Is you on Kansas City?
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I called him? Been in for a month and the other one Catherine Collins?
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I checked Seattle, been in the hospital up there for the past three
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months, and TB war Where does that leave you? Friday? Right back
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for her? We started, no leads and no suspects, all right,
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Walker, Starting tonight, we cover every street and alley in the central area
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until we get that woman. We'll order more men and more detectives from the
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Metropolitan Division. Right, Chief got out more decoy cars a the area covered
14:01
from sun down till sunrise until further notice. Got that woman? Right,
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come on, Joe, hot shot, I get it. Two eleven shooting
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at Gatewood and Cameron. Two eleven shooting at Gatewood Camp. Let's go the
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name on his driver's license, said William Gillespie. We found him fifty feet
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from the corner of Gatewood Alley and Cameron Street. His face and head bore
14:28
the marks of a vicious beating. There was a single bullet wound in his
14:31
left shoulder. It was conscious when we arrived. Chief that Detectives Brown,
14:35
Captain Walker, and Ben checked the area for physical evidence. I spoke briefly
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with the victim before he was placed on a stretcher and carried to the ambulance.
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On the way, he lapsed in non consciousness. I went over to
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where Ben was standing with Chief Brown and Captain Walker. Take hell, look,
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Joe, cap'n find over there near the lamp, pull forty five shellcasing,
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same as the others. I was good, Lespie Friday, Doc says,
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your vr, I'm badly beating fifteen. She really works him over.
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Wonder what makes a woman do things like this? What makes a man do
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it? William Gillespie was taken to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. The shell casing
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which we had found the scene was taken to Lee Jones at the crime lab
15:16
for examination. Had compared with the others. Jones confirmed that the markings on
15:22
the bullet which had wounded Gillespie matched those on the bullet which had been taken
15:24
from Maloney's back. Both bullets had been fired from the same gun. The
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drag At operation for the Woman Bandit went on. The men in The special
15:33
detail covered every street and alley in the central area from eight pm to six
15:37
am the following morning. During the next five days, eleven suspects were picked
15:43
up and brought in for questioning, then released after the victims failed to identify
15:46
any of them. Well, at least we've got to stop temporarily. She
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hasn't pulled a caper for almost a week. You know that doesn't bring us
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any closer to her. I don't know about you, but it's got me
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beat seventeen jobs and she's as free today as she was before she started.
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Joe Ben, what'd you find nothing? The last four women? We questions,
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we're clear. What about the other men on the case head? Do
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they get anything? The Ekstra and Olson are down at the record bureau being
16:14
in a minute. They've been not talking to some of the victims again,
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tough one. I been thinking, how about a composite picture. We're gonna
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have to work with artists in the crime lads working out a couple of sketches
16:25
now now a lot of guessworks. What about the descriptions of the clothes a
16:27
girl wears anything? There We could start on no other than the fact that
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she wears flashy clothes. I also any luck, not much. None of
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the victims have a very good idea what the dame looked like. It's it
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all good looking, nice figure, that's all. Not a lot of the
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ordinary. Huh now some of them to say, kind of unusual voice,
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soft low. It's about all them. Not much hair. She's been describing
16:52
three different outfits. Is that like? Yeah, green dress of the pink
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coat, white dress, dark blue jacket, bright red sweater and a brown
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skirt. Always carries a dark brown allegiance. Your handbag, shoes to match,
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no hat, not much of a wardrobe. Busy. Maybe that's why
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she took up robbery. Now, look, let's get on this thing.
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We've been chasing this woman for almost a month now and she still got the
17:08
run of the town. How long is it gonna take it? So if
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we only had a lead that was worse. I find it. It's there
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someplace I've never reached a thief yet without digging for him. I'll get it
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robbery Olson, Yeah right, and I'll tell him Anderson and Bergman, Joe
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wants to see you in Ben, Thanks captain, that's all my man.
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Yeah, I'd like a day off wouldn't you. We'll get one when we
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get this dame, right head. This thing isn't doing much for the skipper.
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It's not doing much for our time off either, is it? That
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fire department's got the rack at twenty four hours? On twenty four Sometimes they
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get three days off in a room. That's what you keep telling me.
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Here we are, Joe Andy, what do you got checking back on a
18:00
job out in Hollywood? Right? You were having troubles, came across this
18:03
thing, thought it might help you out. What's that one of the picture
18:07
studios out a burglary about a month ago. You've got in the wardrobe department,
18:10
then next door in the makeup. Yeah, let's see. Here's some
18:15
of the stuff taking dress coke. Oh here you can read it. Okay,
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thanks m H. Red sweater, brown skirt. I lived down here,
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Joe right here? Oh yeah. Took two makeup kits and four wigs,
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two blonde, one redhead, one brunette. That's it. Any leads
18:32
on this job, not so far. Now. We got one thing to
18:36
go on. A single footprint, size nine, pretty large size for a
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woman. I didn't say it was a woman. Print was made by a
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man's shoe you are listening to drag nets authentic stories of your police force in
18:57
action. One of the most popular misconceptions of the working detective is offered by
19:06
the fiction writers is the picture of a man with amazing talents for detecting evidence,
19:11
analyzing human behavior and motives, and then, almost as if by magic,
19:15
fitting all the pieces together to form the solution of the crime. The
19:18
real life picture is a little different. The working detective has a job.
19:22
In a sense, it's a practical and down to earth job is baking bread
19:27
or practicing law. It's his job to protect citizens and apprehend criminals, and
19:30
that's a job he doesn't do alone. To assist him in collecting and analyzing
19:34
evidence, he has the aid of the crime Laboratory to help him identify oddities
19:38
and suspects or possible suspects. He has the Record Bureau, latent fingerprints,
19:42
the Statistician's office, the Ballistics department, a battery of men and machines to
19:47
aid him in reaching conclusions based on fact. Tuesday, October ninth, nine
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pm, for the past eight hours, Thaxter and Olsen from Robbery and Ben
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and I had been requesting all of the sixteen victim of the woman bandit.
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We asked them one question, could their assailant possibly have been a man dressed
20:06
as a woman. The majority didn't think so. Those that did weren't very
20:10
sure. We followed the lead through. At nine to twenty five pm,
20:14
we checked in and headed down the hall for the stats office. Do you
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think it was a man dressed as a woman? I don't know one male
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footprints? Were you slam ons? Maybe the machines here can tell us hello
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back again, Ethel. Can you make a run for us tonight nine twenty
20:33
five? Sure I can so. Here's a dope right here. I'm gonna
20:37
try another angle. Yeah. Male of occasions about five feet eight or nine
20:44
hundred and thirty and thirty five pounds, feminine features, size nine shoe impersonating
20:48
women, robbery and assaut that's h arm forty five automatic mro he hikes,
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rides and robs drivers. I'll show an you think he can have force real
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make the run and the coll later. Have to punch up the master first.
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With all this information and at the machine with the cards, I don't
21:06
think I'll have it pretty much before eleven minute. Right, Fine, we'll
21:10
check back a little before eleven in hud good, Come on bend. She
21:15
call your wife after dinner? Yeah, I wish I had, and she's
21:18
mad as a horny. It's a matter of kid's having a birthday party tomorrow.
21:22
I forgot to order the kid. What's she going to do for the
21:25
party? Bake one? She have to And she pulled this gun on me
21:29
and told me to stop the car. Well, I'm telling you, Captain,
21:30
I just grabbed that gun and slapped that kid just as hot as please.
21:34
Colins. This man's name is Amil Collins. Mister Collins is starting Friday,
21:38
Sargeant from there off? How do you do? I was just telling
21:41
the Captain here, I'm down here on a vacation. I'm from Sacramento,
21:45
South Sacramento, and I was driving down your Figaroa street about half an hour
21:48
ago. Picked up this girl hitching the right, and she tried to rob
21:52
me. Collins took the gun away from her, subdude the girl and brought
21:55
her and where is she now? Interrogation Thanks to a olsener with it,
21:59
the description match not too close. Sounds like you didn't have too much trouble
22:03
with her, mister Collins. Well, now that I come to think of
22:06
it. Maybe I didn't. When she pointed that gun, I just grabbed
22:08
for it and slapped her as out as I could. Row took the starch
22:11
out of her. Who whiz the girl any identification? None? Thaxter and
22:15
Olson haven't been able to get anything out of her. You want to try?
22:18
Sure? What do you? Thanks giver? You tell me see if
22:21
you can make her talk. I'll have a stenographer taking mister Collins report.
22:25
Okay, glad to met you, mister Collins. That's a price. I'm
22:29
only done here for a vacation, but if you need me just call you.
22:32
Betty. Well, thanks, how do you figure that? And I
22:37
know see what the girl has to say? Olson, Joe, I want
22:41
to talk to you before you go in. Sure did you finally get her
22:45
to talk? Saxter did? Pretty sure? She's not the one where after?
22:48
What's her? Start said she read about this woman bandit in the paper,
22:52
decided to try her hand at it. Needed money, you know,
22:53
claims her husband left her, She's pregnant, needs the dough for a hospital.
22:57
She live here up the coast, Monterey, gotten Town. Four days
23:00
ago, Steen at the YWCA. We checked here. She's not lying you,
23:03
Carl, Monterray. Yeah, they confirmed it. She left her last
23:07
Wednesday night. She's not the one. Where do we go from here?
23:11
You'll take care of having your book. Tomlson, Yeah, as soon as
23:12
we just stay here. Can't fine Friday band this way hustling, you're too
23:17
Olson. What he got in Uthan Lucas two eleven shooting? Let's go any
23:21
detail? Yeah, a tall blonde would a gun? Come on? The
23:26
woman? Bandit's eighteenth victim was a truck driver. His name Harry Reyese.
23:30
His story differed a little from that of the first victim. The woman was
23:34
hitchhiking near Alvarado on Third Street. He gave her a rhyme, She robbed
23:37
him at gunpoint, slugged him, and then shot him through the left shoulder.
23:41
He described her as tall, blonde, attractive, and well dressed.
23:45
You say, sure have known better. Remember reading about the name of the
23:48
papers, and you're sure that the person who held you up as a woman.
23:52
I don't get you. What he means is you don't think it could
23:56
have been a man dressed like a ringams. Oh no, I'm sure that
24:00
guy ever looked that good to me. All right, mister Reese, we'll
24:03
check with you later at the hospital. Okay, get through. We're keeping
24:08
that truck played. Yeah, Holston's got a couple of men watching it.
24:11
He's going over it. Same old story, just another version. But you
24:15
think she's spreading it pretty thin. Her luck can't last forever. It's got
24:18
me beat. How she always manages to disappear without a tree. Yeah,
24:22
now, Ben, best way over here? Yeah? Okay, what he
24:26
got better? Hustled four blocks down on col fact of shooting just came in
24:29
on the car radio. Let's go slide over to him and we hit the
24:37
sign. Ben, yeh, the crowd watch him alight, excuse him?
24:41
Not all that came over Ben, are shooting? All? They said?
24:45
See the cab driver, I am not shooting's working real fast? What's he
24:48
addressed from? Now? Third and East Flower Hotel? Hold on? As
24:53
is it coming up? Should be to the right here, Yeah, take
24:56
a right. That must be it up ahead. I can't see what that
25:03
sign say, Edgemar Hotel for Young Women. Here's a cab driver right over
25:10
here. Hey, looks like blood stains to me here all over the sidewalk.
25:15
Yeah. I guess it couldn't have happened any more than five or ten
25:18
minutes ago. I had this fast sea picked her up at fought in Bixel
25:21
and I drove her here. She paid the fan got out. Yeah,
25:23
go on. I was about halfway down the block when I heard a shot.
25:26
At least it sounded like when when I look back, this dame was
25:30
down on one knee. He had the door to the hotel here, and
25:32
by the time I backed up as she was gone, and you noticed the
25:34
blood. That's right, Yeah, I figured I better call somebody. Can
25:37
you tell us what the girl looked like? Oh, not bad at all,
25:41
blonde, tall, pretty girl, nervous. But you didn't see where
25:44
she went? I know, but I didn't. I'll get the driver's name
25:45
and address. Joe, You and Van see if you can follow that trail.
25:48
Stuff's all over the place over this way, Ben, Yeah, it's
25:55
not hard to follow down this alley between the buildings. How does this figure?
26:02
Let's find out here we go all the way back here. You got
26:07
your flashlight? Uh yeah, here it yeah, this way, Come on,
26:14
this must be the rear of the hotel. Look stains lead over this
26:18
way to the back door here and let me try. Okay inside still following,
26:29
Yeah, carefully up these stairs, second floor. What's the marriage you
26:41
lose them this minute? See anything? Yeah, stains? Lead on up
26:49
the stairs here, let's go. I just happened to think this is a
26:56
woman's hotel and they ought to keep the back door closed. Come on,
27:02
third floor, let's hold it. What is it? I thought I saw
27:04
a door open down the hall. See anybody, No, let's go this
27:14
way. It's an easy trail to fall. This is if they stop here
27:21
at this door. That doesn't sound like a woman. Yeah, you're ready.
27:26
Try the door first, easy, it's locked. All right, Come
27:29
on together, now, let's hit it now. What'd you do? All
27:33
right? I got the gun? Yeah, oh, we found what we
27:40
came for. Still got the clothes on, blond wig, make up,
27:42
everything, Please help me my leg coll an ambulance it's on the way.
27:48
Take it in. Have a look, Joe and weggs, full makeup.
27:52
Get closed. Living in a woman's hotel, work in accident. You never
27:57
would have got me. You're up the gun it went on. You never
28:03
would have got me. Yeah that's right, misterie. You better get the
28:07
boss in here. I'll stay with glamour boy okay and Ben? Yeah,
28:11
leave the door open when you House rules. The story you have just heard
28:22
was true, only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On January
28:27
fourteenth, trial was held in Superior Court Department seventy nine, City and County
28:32
of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment the results of that
28:36
trial. The welfare and security of your home and your family is a subject
28:40
of national importance. Next week National Crime Prevention Week. The efficiency of your
28:45
local police department is dependent upon your attitude toward your police officer, not just
28:49
one week out of the year, but every day in the year. He
28:53
wants your cooperation. He needs your cooperation for the enforcement of your laws.
28:59
Help you offer to help you to live in a peaceful, orderly community.
29:03
National Crime Prevention Week costs you nothing, just your cooperation. James Harold Sutter,
29:17
alias the Banded Queen, was tried and convicted on several counts of assault
29:21
with attempt to commit murder and robbery of the first degree. He was sentenced
29:25
to the term prescribed by law. While serving his time in the state penitentiary,
29:29
he was stabbed to death by another inmate. You have just heard Dragnet
29:33
a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet comes from
29:38
the office of Chief of Police W. A. Wharton, Los Angeles Police
29:41
Department. Dear Martin Donny tonight on NBC Welcome Back. The criminal sort of
29:55
had a point when he said the police would never call him if he hadn't
30:00
made a mistake. But that is actually always how the police catch the criminals,
30:07
and you can even apply it to the more fanciful shows. It's the
30:11
thing they forgot, the thing they didn't plan for. Except in this criminal's
30:15
case, the reason that they were caught wasn't because of some subtle flaw in
30:19
their plan, but because they failed to set the safety on their gun after
30:26
the last encounter, which, if you were in the nineteen nineties, if
30:30
it weren't for the brutality of the criminal's crime, was a prime candidate to
30:37
end up on America's Dumbest Criminals. There was also a very interesting little monologue
30:41
from Joe Friday when he was talking about how the real working detectives, they're
30:48
not someone with magical deductive powers, and that was really one of the big
30:55
points of Dragnet in terms of realism. The police in Dragnet are not stupid,
31:00
but they're not amazing super geniuses at every aspect of detection. Ultimately,
31:07
they're successful for a couple of reasons. They have a lot of resources at
31:11
their disposal, as we saw when they were talking to the lady who was
31:17
working this punch card system. They have crime, and they have the collective
31:22
knowledge their colleagues in this whole department that will dwarf the experience of most criminals
31:30
in the commission of crimes. And this contrasts to a lot of the police
31:36
in chron drama programming of the previous decade or so, which basically would exalt
31:42
police or the FBI as undefeatable, unassailable. I remember listening to an early
31:49
episode of This Is Your FBI where Frank Lovejoy narrated at some lengths about how
31:57
the FBI could simply just not be defeated. This is something different with Dragnet,
32:04
with the cases that are chosen. Ragnet says, you can give the
32:08
police a chase, you can elude them for a while, but ultimately there
32:14
are pathologies in the way that criminals think and act, and eventually they will
32:19
make a mistake and the police can overlook something. For example, in this
32:23
case, no one thought to call the cab companies to find out if they
32:29
were picking up a beautiful woman who matched the description after the crimes that occurred.
32:35
But the criminal really has no margin for error. And it's a very
32:38
interesting and a different take on the police. For the time, Dragnet was
32:44
a show it wasn't afraid to end a story with a bit of anti climac.
32:49
Oh yeah, somebody else over somewhere else. They managed to catch your
32:52
suspect while you were following a blind alley. Pragnet will do that at times
33:00
because it's the exact same thing that the police actually experience. At any rate.
33:06
That's the big girl. I hope you enjoyed it. And now we
33:08
turn to some listener comments and feedback, and we have a lot of thoughts
33:13
on the human bomb. Joan emails in on this one, says, Hi
33:21
Adam, it's nice to see the actors live instead of just hearing their voices
33:24
on the podcast. Jack was sure young Raymond, Burr and bart and Yarborough
33:29
putting good performances along with Jack Webb. Thank you for giving us a chance
33:34
to watch the show when it came out on TV. I was only seven
33:37
years old and so I wouldn't remember it well. Thanks so much, Joan.
33:42
I have to say that probably the most shockingly young looking Jack Webb I
33:45
ever saw was in He Walks by Nine He Walked by Night. He looks
33:51
so incredibly young and so incredibly thin. Then we have a comment from Leo
33:54
who says, is it mirrored? Does Raymond Burr look just like he did
34:00
in Rear Window? I think it's just you. I can certainly, seriously,
34:07
I can see some similarity, Leo, And there should be a bit
34:09
since this was released a little bit more than two years before a Rear Window.
34:15
The hair was a bit different, and I think the overall carriage that
34:22
Burr had in Rare Window where he was playing this very sinister heavy. It
34:27
was a very different characterization. So I can see some similarities. I wouldn't
34:31
say just like, though. And then we have a comment from Gabe who
34:37
says, I love your podcast and I love old time radio, but the
34:39
videos are a really nice treat. Love what you're doing. Keep up the
34:44
good work at him well, thanks so much and do appreciate your comment.
34:47
Also we have some thoughts on Facebook Bobby Lee comments regarding this episode. I
34:58
love the original so much much more than the one that was on in the
35:01
sixties, there were certainly different shows and made at a different time in Jack
35:07
Webb's life, and Laurie says this is one of my all time favorite Dragnet
35:15
episodes, and it is one of mine too. When I made my list
35:21
of the twenty five greatest Dragnet episodes ever, going all the way from the
35:28
radio version through nineteen seventy, it made the list very high. Now there
35:34
are a few episodes that talked, but not a whole lot. It just
35:37
has so much going for it, with just a great amount of suspense and
35:43
all of those realistic touches just make everything work. And you also still get
35:47
a little bit of a sense of the humanity of Joe Friday and the rest
35:52
of the police officers at the end. And I do believe that this is
35:55
one of the few radio scripts, and I think actually the only radio script
36:00
they reused that wasn't a Christmas episode, So we'll get to hear it again,
36:07
and this is a story it just never does get old. Well.
36:10
We did also receive a comment from Jay ZM on episode fourteen ninety six,
36:17
The Big Man Part Two. They say, I also had to listen to
36:23
this twice to make certain I heard about the personal checks. That's difficult to
36:29
believe. Thanks for posting these wonderful programs. They bring back such wonderful memories
36:34
of family, nots sitting around the radio. Sadly now most family members are
36:39
scattered in different regions. Thanks so much for the comment, Jay ZM.
36:45
And I actually still haven't found anyone who said that they did the personal checks
36:50
thing, or heard of a police department doing that. It's really an odd
36:54
practice. And I did have a whimsical thought when I first read your email
36:59
and was thinking about it again. I was thinking, I wonder if they
37:01
used the memo line on the checks and they wrote for drug buy I guess
37:07
that would have gotten some looks at the bank. And I'm only getting on
37:10
that. I do think that one thing that has really changed in recent decades
37:19
is the decline of a family television and of those shows that parents and their
37:25
kids can watch together. I mean, that was really where it was at
37:30
in the nineteen fifties and nineteen sixties, and somewhere along the way the whole
37:37
idea has become pretty rare. You know. You see that with you know,
37:42
the streaming video services and the only times of TV shows they released,
37:46
either TVY kids shows when they do their originals, or TVMA very mature adult
37:54
programs, and the kids shows of today are often the things that would really
38:00
really annoy parents, and if they're forced to watch it, they truly want
38:05
to forget them, Whereas I think a lot of the kids shows of yesteryear
38:08
so there were some that were so well written and interesting they secretly enjoyed watching
38:15
them with the kids. So that is definitely something that we miss these days.
38:19
Thanks so much for the comment. And then we have a comment from
38:22
Lizzie Walker, who writes in high at them. My husband and I watched
38:28
a few episodes of the new Flash television series last night. Unless I am
38:32
mistaken, the police character in the show who raised Berry after the rest of
38:36
his father, has a Jack Web poster on his living room wall. The
38:39
character is a no nonsense kind of guy, so I think it shows some
38:45
insight about what most debates him. Just thought it was an interesting detail.
38:51
Thanks so much, Lizzie. I don't watch a ton of television series continuing,
39:02
I think I can count two and one of them is the Flash,
39:07
and I had not noticed that detail. I guess I just wasn't expecting to
39:10
see it, but that doesn't surprise me at all. Like the character of
39:15
Joe West and generally the approach of the Flash, it's a very interesting series
39:21
and having Jack Webb on the Wall just makes me like the character on the
39:27
show even more. Thanks for sharing. Finally, we turned to a comment
39:30
from Ken who shares shared a little bit of Stan Freeburg's satire Saint George and
39:40
the Dragon Matter, which I'd heard before, but I appreciate him sitting along,
39:45
and he asked at the end, on one of your upcoming podcasts,
39:50
could you please go over the benefits of your app versus just getting the feed
39:54
through the standard podcast app provided on the iPhone. Okay, well, that
40:00
is a good question. I guess there would be a couple of things that
40:04
I would recommend about it. First is that with the app you get generally
40:10
about three to four bonus episodes a month, and these are episodes not detective
40:16
shows, but usually programs in which are stars of detective shows appear in other
40:23
programs, and these can range from a wide variety of different types of programs.
40:30
We've had Jack Web episodes of Escape, we had a Barry Sullivan episode
40:36
of Family Theater, this month, and also just a couple of days ago,
40:38
Lawn Clark in an episode of the nineteen sixty five ABC radio series Theater
40:45
Five. So if you like some radio rarities and to hear what else the
40:51
stars of these shows could do, then the app is beneficial. You'll also
40:54
have a much bigger archive. While it takes a while to load, with
41:00
fifteen hundred programs, you can get every program that we still have available on
41:05
the site. And there is a search bar on top of the on top
41:10
of the list of episodes. If you scroll to the very top, there's
41:14
a search box. You can top in Philip Marlow or Nick Carter or Barry
41:17
Craig and be able to load all the episodes you like. Plus you can
41:23
by going into an episode and hitting the star button automatically download episodes and save
41:30
them. For example, you're using an iPod in your someplace with Wi Fi,
41:36
you can download listen to it somewhere without WiFi. It's also a lot
41:39
easier to get interactive on the contact link. You've got Twitter, Facebook,
41:45
email, and our voicemail all just a click away. And this is available
41:52
in the iTunes Store and also on the Amazon Android App Store. And if
41:58
anyone wants to complain that I did a two minute infomercial for the app,
42:02
well can I ask? I hope though that is helpful, seriously, thanks
42:07
so much for emailing in. All right, well, that will do it
42:09
for today. Long commentary though most of it save for after the show,
42:15
kind of makes me a little nostalgic for when we started out with Dragnet and
42:20
we would always have just a really long commentary because people ask so many questions
42:25
and emailed in and had so many thoughts on the show that got me to
42:30
talking into responding. Ultimately, that's the best part of the whole show,
42:35
going back to when we started with just dragnat back in two thousand and seven.
42:38
All right, well, that will do it for today. We will
42:42
be back tomorrow with another play it again Adam and I hein it'll be something
42:47
sweet, and then join us next Saturday for another episode of Dragnet. Remember
42:52
support our listener support campaign, support dot great Detectives dot net, follow us
42:59
on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and become one of our friends on Facebook,
43:04
Facebook, dot com, slash Radiodetectives, and you can always leave us a
43:08
voicemail two O eight nine nine one four seven eight three, But from Boise,
43:13
Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham's son and Off