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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Karen Moffitt comes to Los Angeles Homicide with word that
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: her sister, Margaret Shane, has disappeared. Sergeant Joe Friday and
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Officer Frank Smith begin with Margaret's husband, Gordon Shane, then
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: follow the accounts, paperwork, and physical evidence that may clarify
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: a troubling domestic case. From NBC's Dragnet, this is Big Dig,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: episode 277, first heard December 7th, 1954. Jack Webb stars
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: as Friday, with Ben Alexander as Smith. The script is
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: by John Robinson and Earl Schley. And now, the original broadcast.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: Drag men.
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: You're a detective sergeant.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: You're assigned to homicide detail. A woman reports her sister
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: is missing. The story she gives you indicates foul play.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Your job, investigate. It was Tuesday, April 8th. It was
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: warm in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: on a homicide division. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: is Captain Lorman. My name is Friday.
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: I was on my way back from the business office,
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: and it was 11.46 a.m. when I got to room 42. Homicide.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: You know, it's just too bad we can't hold them
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: faster on things like this. It's just too bad. Yes, ma'am. Hi, Joe. Hi. Mrs. Moffat,
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: this is my partner, Sergeant Friday. Joe, this is Mrs. Moffat.
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: How are you, ma'am? How do you do? Want to
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: tell him the story?
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: Think it'll do any good?
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: Well, then, my sister's gone.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: Disappeared, and I want you to find her.
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: When did you see her last?
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: A couple of weeks ago.
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: Could you give us a date? Do you have a calendar? Yes, ma'am.
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: Right on the wall there behind you. Oh. This is 8th.
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: Maggie's birthday was in March, and that makes it 14th
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: of March.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: I see. She's come by to thank me for the party.
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: Had a few of the girls in for her. That's
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: your sister?
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: Yes, Margaret Shane.
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: Have you heard anything from her since then?
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Not a peep.
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: What about her home? Have you checked there?
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: Tried to call her on the phone a couple of times.
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: Didn't talk to her, though. Who'd you speak with? Her husband.
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: Did you ask him where your sister was? Yes, I
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: came right out with it.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: Didn't mess anything up.
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: What'd he have to say? Well, then, just beat around.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: Didn't come out with a yay or no.
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: Just beat around. How about the rest of her family?
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: Isn't any. I'm the only living relative she has.
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: Impossible. She's ill? If that's so, I'd know about it.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: We were pretty close. Hardly no secrets from each other.
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: I see.
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: Now, if you're all done asking me the same questions
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: this fella has, I want to know.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: I know there's something wrong.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: I want you to find out. All right, we'll check
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: on it. I want you to do more than that,
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: a lot more. Beg your pardon?
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: I want you to arrest Maggie's husband.
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: Well, why? Because he killed her. We checked the name
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: and description of the woman through missing persons.
• 3:03
  Speaker 6: Files, but we failed to find anything on her. While
• 3:06
  Speaker 6: I talked to Karen Moffat, Frank went down the hall
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: and ran the names Margaret Shane and her husband Gordon
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: through R & I.
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: There was nothing on either one of them.
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: 1.06 p.m. We left the office and drove out to
• 3:16
  Speaker 6: check the missing woman's house.
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: Doesn't seem like anybody's home. Well, let's check the bank. Fine.
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: You think there's anything to it? You know, as much
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: as I do, we both started from the same place. Yeah.
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: I'll get it. All right. There was somebody home. Yeah.
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: I wonder why he didn't bark when he knocked on
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: the door. I don't know. Nothing here. Let's check the
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: garage there. Locked? Nope. Well, it's quite a shop, huh? Mm-hmm.
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: A lot of tools. Well, doesn't look like anything. Nope. Frank?
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: Come here. Right here, under the sawdust. Where? Oh, yeah.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: Looks like somebody tried to hide it. Bloodstains.
• 4:28
  Speaker 6: We put in a call to the crime lab requesting
• 4:30
  Speaker 6: that a crew be sent out to check the stains
• 4:31
  Speaker 6: that we found on the floor. We talked to the neighbors.
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: About the couple and we got the address of the
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: place where Mr. Shane was employed.
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: It was a large wholesale carpet company. We found Shane
• 4:40
  Speaker 6: in one of the offices.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: No, ma'am, if it's put in, it should make the
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: room a lot warmer. No, the carpet you've chosen shouldn't show.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: Anywhere for years.
• 4:49
  Speaker 7: Mm-hmm.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: Well, we found that color doesn't show the dirt.
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: No, ma'am.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: No, well, it'll increase the value of your home.
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: Oh, that's right.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: Oh, we can have it in for you the day
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: after tomorrow.
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: That's right.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: I'll give you a call, hmm?
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: All right, bye.
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir, can I do something for you?
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: Mr. Shane?
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: That's right, you want to come in? What can I
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: do for you?
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: Police officers. Frank Smith. My name's Friday. How do you do, sir?
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: Something wrong? No, sir. Just a couple of questions we'd
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: like to ask.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: Oh, sure. You want to sit down?
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: Thank you. Cigarette? Yeah, thanks.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: How about you, Mr.
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: Smith? Yeah, thanks, sir.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Want a light?
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: I've got it. Here you are.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: Thanks.
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: Thanks.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Now then, what's this all about?
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: You know where your wife is, Mr. Sheen?
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: Oh, there's something about Maggie?
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: Well, do you know where she is? Look, Mr.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: Friday, if there's something wrong with Maggie, I got the
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: right to know about it.
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir, that's true. We're not sure there's anything wrong.
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: We'd like to talk to Mrs. Shane. We hope you'd
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: tell us where we might reach her. Was she in trouble? No, sir.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: Well, then I don't understand all the questions.
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: We've got a report that she's missing. Who filed it?
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: Her sister.
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: That figures.
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: How's that?
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: She is never going to stop.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: I don't believe I'll follow you.
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: Karen's been hacked at me ever since I married Maggie. Now,
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: the day goes by, she doesn't plan some kind of
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: a date.
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: Does she have a reason? Yeah. Huh?
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: She had it all fixed for Maggie to marry someone else.
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: I came along and upset her plans. Been trying to
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: break us up ever since.
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: That so? Yeah.
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: This fellow, she was trying to palm off on my wife.
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: Karen's husband worked for him. She figured it'd be real
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: soft having a boss as a brother-in-law. Well, the way
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: it worked out, the slob had to work for 11.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: Almost kills Karen every time she thinks of it.
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: Where is your wife?
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: I wish I could tell you.
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: What?
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: I wish I knew where she was.
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: Haven't you got any idea? No.
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: A couple weeks ago, I came home from work. Maggie
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: was gone. I haven't seen her since.
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: Can you pin it down?
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: Uh, Thursday, a week.
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: She called during the day to tell me she wanted
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: me to go out to dinner. Said she wanted me
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: to be home on time. I told her I wouldn't
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: be able to make it. We had words.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: She hung up. When I got to the house, she
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: was gone.
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: Did she leave any kind of a note? Yeah. Have
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: you got it?
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: I don't think so. I was pretty upset. Guess I
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: must have thrown it away. Haven't seen her around since.
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: You know, you've got quite a woodworking shop in your garage.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. Stuff's getting a little rusty now. I haven't
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: felt like doing anything.
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: There's trouble with your wife. Was there another man involved?
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: It'd be hard to say. What do you mean?
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: Well, Maggie's an attractive girl. Everywhere she went, there was
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: some guy trying to make time. Might have been someone special.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't know.
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: I wonder if we could use one of the phones outside.
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: Use this, if you like. Well, one of the others
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: will do.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: Sure, go ahead.
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: I'll call the land bill. See what they've come up with. Okay.
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: This note your wife left, what did it say?
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: You mean the exact words?
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: If you remember them.
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: It was pretty simple. Just that she was leaving me.
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: Said she didn't have to tell me why, that I knew.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: Did she say where she was going? No.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: Figured maybe she went back east. She's got some friends there. Where? Nebraska,
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: I think. I've never met them.
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: How about clothes? What? Did she take any clothes with her?
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah, I guess so. She had quite a few.
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: I looked at her closet. I couldn't tell what was gone.
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: She took her first clothes up.
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. Did you try to contact any of her friends?
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: I called around. I didn't find out anything.
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: Whole thing's a farce, Sergeant.
• 8:09
  Speaker 5: Isn't anything new about a wife leaving her husband?
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: Read about it all.
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: The time in the papers. Karen's just stirring up trouble.
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: She's sore at me. Always has been. Always will be.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: Joe.
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Excuse me.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, sure.
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: You talk to the lab? Yeah. They just finished the
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: test on the bloodstains. Mm-hmm. We're not too far off. Huh?
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: Human blood.
• 8:38
  Speaker 6: Frank and I took Gordon Shane back to his house.
• 8:40
  Speaker 6: During the ride, he was quiet and he refused to
• 8:42
  Speaker 6: be led into a conversation about his wife. When we
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: arrived at the house, we took him back to the garage.
• 8:46
  Speaker 6: The crew from the crime lab had gone back to
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: the office to make the grouping test on the bloodstains.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: We should tell me what this is all about.
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: We figure you might have the answer to that.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: When are you going to stop talking in riddles?
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: Now, Shane, you know what we're after. You'll save yourself
• 8:59
  Speaker 6: a lot of trouble if you go along with it.
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: I don't know. What are you after?
• 9:03
  Speaker 5: You dragged me away from my job, caused me a
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: lot of embarrassment. Now, how about calling the game so
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: we both know what we're playing?
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: All right, fine, sure. You got an explanation for this? What?
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: The bloodstains here on the floor. Yeah, sure.
• 9:16
  Speaker 6: I killed a couple of people. This is where I
• 9:18
  Speaker 6: did it. We don't need any jokes, Shane. Just figure
• 9:20
  Speaker 6: it out.
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: Well, you better turn in your deerstalker cap. I made
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: those stains myself.
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: I was working on the lathe. Chisel slipped out of
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: my hand, cut my foot.
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: When did this happen? A couple of weeks ago. Before
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: or after your wife left?
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Now you're ready to stop the game.
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: It's a real easy question, Shane. Give us the answer
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: the same way, will you? Before. How much? A couple
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: of days. You told us your wife left on the
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: 27th of March. Is that right? Yeah, I guess so.
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: Is it right or isn't it?
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: It's right.
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: Then when did you touch your foot?
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: The Sunday before.
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: How'd you pull that date up? Well, no trouble.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: It's the last time I worked out here.
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: Well, if it got that bad, it'd still be a mark,
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: wouldn't it?
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: You mind showing it?
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: Not at all.
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: You know your blood type?
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: Hmm?
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: What's your blood type? Oh. How about your wife?
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: I don't know. Somehow, we never quite got around to
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: talking about it.
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: All right. Let's go in the house. You can show
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: us your foot there. Yeah, sure. You think you might
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: be able to come up with a note your wife
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: left as well? I'll look.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: You know much about the law?
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: What do you mean?
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: If I get out of this, can I bring suit
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: against my sister-in-law?
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: What's that?
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: Well, it seems there should be.
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: Something I can do to close her mouth. All the
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: time Maggie and me were together, she was causing trouble.
• 10:28
  Speaker 5: I'd like to really fix her good.
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: That's a civil matter. You better see a lawyer about that.
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: Wait a minute.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: I'll get the door. Come on. We can talk in
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: the living room.
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: Where?
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: Living room.
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: All right. You want to go ahead? Yeah, I guess.
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: This is the living room. You can sit down any place.
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: A little messy. I haven't spent a lot of time
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: here since she left. Just toss those things on the floor.
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: Don't worry about it. You want to see if you
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: can find that note now?
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think maybe it's in the desk. I'll get it.
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: Wait a minute. I'll have a look for it.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: You guys don't trust anybody, do you?
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: That's the way it's going to be. You got to
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: go with it.
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: Better make sure I haven't got a machine gun hidden
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: in there.
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: You know, you've done pretty good up to here, Shane.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: Don't press your luck.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Go ahead.
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: Tear the place up.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: Too bad I haven't got a wall bed. You could
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: look for her in there.
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: Doesn't seem to make any difference to you that your
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: wife left at all, does it? That's the way it looks. Yeah.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: Well, you ain't far off. Real load off my back.
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: We've been married over four years, and all that time
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: I haven't had a minute's rest. Thinking how she was
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: going to run off with somebody else. Figured that she'd
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: drop me.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: Now it's over. I don't have to worry anymore.
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: You got it wrong, Shane. That right. Yeah. Take a look, Joe.
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: What do you got there? You got no right to
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: go through my personal things.
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: When did you see your wife last?
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to say anything more. You're trying to
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: lead me into something.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: Looks like you found your own way. Now, how about it?
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to talk anymore.
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 11:51
  Speaker 6: You call it any way you want. No matter how
• 11:52
  Speaker 6: it turns out, you're going to carry the load.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: All right, she left on the 27th. That's the last
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: time you saw her? Yeah.
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: Have you heard anything from her since then? No. Well,
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: I hope you've got an answer for these.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: What do you got?
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: A couple of checks made out to you and they're
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: signed by your wife.
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: Well, what's that prove?
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: The dates and the checks make a liar out of you, Shane. Huh?
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: They were written a week after she left you.
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: We made a search of the house, but we failed
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: to turn up anything more that would tie Gordon Shane
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: in with his wife's disappearance. We looked through the desk
• 12:22
  Speaker 6: and we found several letters that she'd written. These were
• 12:24
  Speaker 6: taken for handwriting comparison. We also found several pictures of
• 12:27
  Speaker 6: the missing woman. A check with the neighbors failed to
• 12:29
  Speaker 6: give us anything further to work on. All of them
• 12:32
  Speaker 6: told us of constant fights between Shane and his wife.
• 12:35
  Speaker 6: One of the people said that on several occasions the
• 12:37
  Speaker 6: sound of sobbing had been heard coming from the house.
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: At 5.20 p.m., Frank and I.
• 12:41
  Speaker 6: Left the place and took Shane down to the city hall.
• 12:44
  Speaker 6: The checks and samples of Mrs. Shane's writing were turned
• 12:46
  Speaker 6: over to Larry Sloan for comparison. We put in a
• 12:49
  Speaker 6: call to the crime lab, but we found that the
• 12:50
  Speaker 6: blood grouping tests were not finished.
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: 6-12.
• 12:53
  Speaker 6: We took the suspect to the interrogation room.
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: Sit down over there, Shane. Okay.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: How long do you think you're going to be able
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: to hold me?
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: Depends on when we get the truth. Well, you saw
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: the cut.
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: On my foot. You didn't find anything at the house. Look,
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: you're grabbing at shadows.
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: You still haven't told us about the check?
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: No reason to.
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: Everything I say, you twist around so it ends up
• 13:12
  Speaker 5: something I don't mean.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: Where'd you get the check? From Maggie.
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: What about the date on them? I don't know.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: I guess she made a mistake when they were written.
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: Where'd you get them?
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: Found them at the desk.
• 13:21
  Speaker 6: Well, didn't you think it was kind of funny that
• 13:22
  Speaker 6: your wife would write a couple of checks and just
• 13:23
  Speaker 6: leave them laying around on the desk?
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: No.
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: Maggie was always doing something like that. She didn't care
• 13:28
  Speaker 5: about money.
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: How about you, Shane? Huh? Does it make any difference
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: to you?
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: Look, I'm getting tired of this. Some crazy old bag
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: comes in here, tells you a fairy tale, and.
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: You buy it all away.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: Any special reason why you're taking my sister-in-law's word for it?
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: The way she tells it seems to add up.
• 13:42
  Speaker 5: Well, then, you better go over the column again. My
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: wife walked out on me. There wasn't any fight when
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: it happened. She just picked up and she left. I
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: don't know where she is.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: I don't much care. But you put this down in
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: your book. I didn't kill her. Now, look, leave me alone.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: When do I get to call a lawyer?
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: We'll set it up for you.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: Well, do it fast, because you're getting nothing more from me.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: That's the way you want it.
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: There isn't any other way. I'm telling you the truth,
• 14:06
  Speaker 5: and you don't believe it. I'm going to keep my
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: mouth shut so you can't make it any worse.
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: All right, Gordon. We'll take you over to the main jail.
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: You can call your lawyer from there.
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: What are you holding me on?
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: Suspicion of murder.
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: You just don't give up, do you?
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: Look, we gotta go along with the evidence.
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: Well, you better check it again, because you're making a
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: mistake somewhere along the line.
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: That's the way it looks to you, does it?
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Go over the road again. Find it. You're a cop.
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: No, let's do it the easy way.
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: Huh?
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: You point it out.
• 14:36
  Speaker 6: The suspect was removed to the main jail and held
• 14:38
  Speaker 6: for further investigation. Frank checked the office, and I went
• 14:41
  Speaker 6: down the hall to talk to Larry Sloan in handwriting.
• 14:45
  Speaker 8: Joe, how's it going?
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: You all through with those checks, Larry? Just wrapping it up.
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: All right, so wait. Sure, sit down. Okay.
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: What do you figure?
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: I don't know what you'd tell us.
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: How'd it start? Complaint. Woman wanted us to find her sister.
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: Where'd the checks fit in? Found them with her husband.
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: Dates a couple of days after she disappeared. Mm-hmm.
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: Figure you might have written them, huh?
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: Well, that's one way. Well, that does it. Okay, what
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: do you got?
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: The endorsement on the back is Shane's writing.
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: His signature.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, here, you can see it.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: No trouble there.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: The O's, the way he pulls the stroke down on the.
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: S, that's his. What about the writing on the face? Oh,
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: look here.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: Shading on the G.
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: The way the crossbar on the T's pulled up.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: These are the samples, and you've got the same thing
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: right here.
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: No doubt about it, huh? Not with me.
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: Okay. The woman wrote the checks.
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: Joe.
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: In here, Frank.
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: Oh.
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: Just talked with Lee at the crime lab.
• 15:41
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: He finished the grouping test. What did he find? Got
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: in touch with Karen Moffitt. Found out the missing woman's
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: blood type. Yeah. The stains on the floor aren't hers.
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: They belong to Shane.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: How you doing, Joe?
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: Not good. Looks like we got the wrong man in jail,
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: doesn't it?
• 16:05
  Speaker 9: You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your
• 16:08
  Speaker 9: police force in action.
• 16:16
  Speaker 6: Frank and I left the office and went over to
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: the main jail to see Gordon Shane. We talked to
• 16:20
  Speaker 6: him for over an hour. He told us that he
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: and his wife had been having trouble for quite a
• 16:23
  Speaker 6: while and that they'd separated on several occasions. He went
• 16:26
  Speaker 6: on to tell us that he didn't know for sure
• 16:27
  Speaker 6: whether there was another man involved, but that he'd heard
• 16:29
  Speaker 6: his wife spent a lot of time in a small
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: bar on Vermont Avenue. He said that it was possible
• 16:34
  Speaker 6: we could pick up some information on her there. Frank
• 16:37
  Speaker 6: and I left the jail and drove over to the place.
• 16:38
  Speaker 6: It was an average neighborhood tavern. We talked to the bartender.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: Only one way to describe her. Man, oh, man.
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: Was there anybody special that Mrs. Shane spent a lot
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: of time with, would you know?
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: Gee, I don't know. A lot of people in here
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: like a family. Guess if you had to nail it down,
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: it'd be Leonard.
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: Who's Leonard?
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: Another regular. He's here almost every afternoon.
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: He and Mrs. Shane were pretty friendly, huh?
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, real buddies.
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: They used to come in and get gas together, spend
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: the whole afternoon, sit down there at the inn and
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: play horse, play it by the hour.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: Enough for money. We don't allow that in here.
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: What do you know about him?
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: Not much. Doesn't figure him and Maggie had hit.
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: It off, though. Why do you say that?
• 17:15
  Speaker 5: Well, it just doesn't. She liked her fellas big, you know,
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: dark and handsome. Leonard's a little guy, not more than 5'4.
• 17:22
  Speaker 5: Sure ain't anything to look at.
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: What's his last name?
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: I think it's P-U-R-D-Y, Purdy. That seems like it.
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: What's he look like?
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: Not much about him you'd remember. He's a little guy,
• 17:34
  Speaker 5: blonde hair, real bad complexion. Has a mustache, you know,
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: big kind of handlebar like.
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah. You know where he lives? No, for sure.
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: I think he's got a room over on Fountain someplace.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: I don't know the number.
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: Where's your phone?
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: Through the back door, though.
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: Thanks.
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: On the left.
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: I'll check it, Joe. All right. Does Purdy work for
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: a living?
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: No, regular.
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: What's he do, do you know?
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: He's some kind of salesman, door-to-door. I don't know what
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: he peddles. I've seen him a couple of times with
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: a sample case.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: Has he been around lately?
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: No.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: I hadn't thought about it, but I guess I haven't
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: seen him in a couple of weeks.
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: You ever hear what he and Mrs. Shane talked about?
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Word here and there. Nothing you could put together. I
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: think she spent the time with him because she didn't have.
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: To worry about him. How do you mean that?
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, a little guy like that. Couldn't give
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: her no trouble. He's always around. Maggie didn't have a car,
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: so Leonard would drive her if she wanted to go someplace.
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: What kind of a car?
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: 41 DeSoto. Parked it out back a couple of times.
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: It's a real wreck. All right.
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: What'd she do? Maggie, what are you after?
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: Like I said, we'd like to talk to her.
• 18:34
  Speaker 5: Sure a dog. You get to know her. After that,
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: it doesn't matter how much money she spent. She can't
• 18:38
  Speaker 5: switch you back.
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: She spent quite a bit in here, did she? Yeah.
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: Her and Leonard had really put the drinks away. Both
• 18:43
  Speaker 5: of them had hollow legs. You know, I've seen some
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: pretty heavy drinkers walk up against them. They don't stand
• 18:48
  Speaker 5: a chance. Maggie can really put it away. Always causes trouble.
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: How do you mean? It's loud.
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: Yelling all over about how she could buy and sell
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: everybody in the place. A couple of times, I had
• 18:57
  Speaker 5: asked her to get out. Things like that hurt business,
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: you know.
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: Hmm. She carry a lot of money with her, did she?
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. Always had a bundle. Said she was an
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: heiress or something.
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: She was always loaded, though.
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: Anything on Purdy? Yeah, sure is. Yeah? Got out of
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: the state mental hospital six months ago.
• 19:20
  Speaker 6: From his package, we found that Leonard Purdy had been
• 19:22
  Speaker 6: arrested several times for suspicion of grand theft.
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: However, he hadn't been convicted on any of them.
• 19:26
  Speaker 6: Also, there were 18 drunk arrests against him. We put
• 19:29
  Speaker 6: in a call to Georgia Street Psycho Detail, and we
• 19:31
  Speaker 6: talked to Lieutenant Quinn. He remembered Purdy, and he went
• 19:34
  Speaker 6: on to say that the suspect had been in the
• 19:35
  Speaker 6: scene several times since his release. He told us that
• 19:38
  Speaker 6: Purdy had committed himself to the state hospital as an alcoholic.
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: Quinn went on to say that when Purdy was.
• 19:43
  Speaker 6: Drunk, he became violent, and that on three of his arrests,
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: it had taken several officers to subdue him.
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: We contacted the authorities... up at Camarillo.
• 19:51
  Speaker 6: They told us that the suspect had been released by them.
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: After treatment and that he apparently was cured. We checked
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: the last address in his package, but we found that
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: he'd moved. A local and an APB was gotten out
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: on him.
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: We asked DMV to furnish any and all information on
• 20:04
  Speaker 6: a car registered to him. Two days went by without
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: a word of him. In the meantime, we talked to
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: all of his friends and acquaintances. From each one of them,
• 20:11
  Speaker 6: we got the same story. Leonard Purdy was a freeloader
• 20:13
  Speaker 6: who'd do anything for a dollar. On Thursday, April 10th,
• 20:16
  Speaker 6: we got word that the suspect had been seen in
• 20:18
  Speaker 6: the second-hand store down on Main Street. We checked the
• 20:20
  Speaker 6: area and got an identification from his mugshot. He'd come
• 20:23
  Speaker 6: in to pawn a man's watch. From the buy book,
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: we got an address out on Gladys Avenue.
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: We talked to the landlady and found that the suspect
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: was in his room. Frank and I went upstairs. Who's that, huh?
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: Who is it? Want to talk to you, Purdy? Just
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: a minute. Yeah, what do you want? You Leonard Purdy?
• 20:59
  Speaker 8: That's right.
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: Who are you guys?
• 21:00
  Speaker 8: Police officers. We want to talk to you. I got
• 21:02
  Speaker 8: nothing to do with cops. I have my fill up.
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: Why don't you come in?
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: Right. Yeah. You gonna be here long? Not long.
• 21:13
  Speaker 8: That's good. I don't feel like making small talk. I
• 21:16
  Speaker 8: don't know if you drink, but there's just barely enough
• 21:19
  Speaker 8: for me.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: You can understand that.
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: Put the glass down, Purdy. What? Put it down.
• 21:23
  Speaker 8: Look, you got no right to come in here and
• 21:25
  Speaker 8: tell me what to do.
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: Nobody asked you. No. I found this in the closet.
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: Does fur coat belong to you, Purdy? Yeah, I get
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: cold nights. You know a woman by the name of
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: Margaret Shane? Never heard of her. You sure about that?
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: I'm sure, I'm sure.
• 21:37
  Speaker 8: I got nothing to answer to you.
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: Before you come in here and tell me what to do,
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: I don't have to give you one single answer about nothing.
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: You better come up with one. What's that? This coat.
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: What about it? It's got Margaret Shane's name in it.
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: It must be a mistake. I don't know anybody named Shane.
• 21:52
  Speaker 8: Nobody.
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: We got a lot of people who say you do.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: You telling me the truth?
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: Same people tell us you were with her when she disappeared.
• 21:58
  Speaker 8: They don't know what they're talking about.
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: The way they put it, it's pretty straight. Who told you? Who?
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: Just give me some names.
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: Everybody we talked to. They said I was with her.
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: That's right. Now, where is she? I don't know. You
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: got to do better than that. No, it's the truth.
• 22:11
  Speaker 8: I don't know where she is.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: I killed her, but I don't know where she is.
• 22:21
  Speaker 6: We took the suspect down to the city hall and
• 22:23
  Speaker 6: questioned him. He finally sobered up enough to tell us
• 22:25
  Speaker 6: that he'd gotten into an argument with a shamed woman
• 22:27
  Speaker 6: and he'd beaten her to death. He went on to
• 22:29
  Speaker 6: say that his car was being repaired and that he'd
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: rented one and driven it out into the desert.
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: He buried the victim there.
• 22:35
  Speaker 6: We showed him maps of the area, but he was
• 22:36
  Speaker 6: unable to tell us where to find the body. He
• 22:38
  Speaker 6: only knew that he'd put it in the culvert along
• 22:40
  Speaker 6: the roadside. We got the name of the automobile rental
• 22:43
  Speaker 6: agency and we called them. Their records gave us the
• 22:45
  Speaker 6: date of the rental and the mileage the car had
• 22:47
  Speaker 6: been driven. We put the suspect in our car and
• 22:49
  Speaker 6: started out toward the Mojave Desert. As we drove, Purdy
• 22:52
  Speaker 6: verified our route. By dividing the total mileage in half
• 22:56
  Speaker 6: and figuring the distance between his house and the office
• 22:58
  Speaker 6: of the auto rental company, we had a vague idea
• 23:01
  Speaker 6: where to start looking.
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: After we'd been driving for over two hours, we pulled
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: to the side of the road. How's the look around here?
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it might be it.
• 23:11
  Speaker 8: I think up the road a little way.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: Remember that big rock over there? Remember that pretty good.
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: It's up ahead a little. All right.
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: We drove for another 30 minutes, and then Purdy directed
• 23:26
  Speaker 6: us to pull off onto a dirt road.
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: We drove another half a mile, and we came to
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: the end of the road. We can't go any further.
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: Don't have to.
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: Huh?
• 23:35
  Speaker 8: I remember. Now, let's get out of the car.
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: Just stay close to us, Purdy. Right here. All right.
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: Which way? Over here. It's a beautiful day. Yeah.
• 23:50
  Speaker 8: It's different when you get out in the country. Everything's
• 23:52
  Speaker 8: got a different color.
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: Come on, Purdy. Where is she?
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: Over there, behind the bushes.
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: I'll go look.
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: Always been the big trouble.
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: What's that? Boozing it up.
• 24:03
  Speaker 8: Every time I get a few drinks, I don't know
• 24:05
  Speaker 8: what I'm doing. But after I got out of the hospital,
• 24:08
  Speaker 8: I had.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: It made, you know. I'd be able to stay away
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: from it.
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 24:11
  Speaker 8: First time I had trouble, I went back. I always
• 24:13
  Speaker 8: went back.
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: How about it? Yeah. She's there.
• 24:18
  Speaker 8: All the time, that's what caused the trouble. Wouldn't be
• 24:20
  Speaker 8: if it wasn't for me boozing it up.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
• 24:23
  Speaker 8: If I could just stay away from it, I wouldn't
• 24:24
  Speaker 8: have any problems. I want to give it up if
• 24:26
  Speaker 8: I could just find a way.
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: You got one now.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: The story you have just heard is true. The names
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: were changed to protect the innocent.
• 24:41
  Speaker 9: On August 14th, trial was held in Department 98, Superior
• 24:45
  Speaker 9: Court of the State of California in and for the
• 24:47
  Speaker 9: County of Los Angeles. Leonard Eiler Purdy pled guilty to
• 24:59
  Speaker 9: murder in the second degree and received sentence as prescribed
• 25:01
  Speaker 9: by law. Murder in the second degree is punishable by
• 25:05
  Speaker 9: imprisonment for a period of from five years to life
• 25:07
  Speaker 9: in the state penitentiary.
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: Dragnet.
• 25:10
  Speaker 9: The story of your police force in action is a
• 25:13
  Speaker 9: presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.
• 25:19
  Speaker 7: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The Lone Ranger.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Our presentation of Dragnet, Big Dig, has come to its close.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: Good night and thank you for joining us.