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Dragnet - "Big Winchester" (Old Time Radio, 1951) · Dragnet | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: An elderly retired grocer is found shot in his Los
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Angeles home, and the scene has been arranged to look
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: like suicide. But Sergeant Joe Friday and Sergeant Ben Romero
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: find details that do not fit the apparent explanation, leading
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: homicide detail into the victim's correspondence and the evidence left
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: in the room. From NBC, this is Dragnet, episode 114,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Big Winchester, first broadcast August 16th, 1951. Jack Webb stars
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: as Friday, with Barton Yarbrough as Romero in a production
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: directed by Webb. And now, the original broadcast.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: The story you are about to hear is true. Only
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: Fatima, best of all king-size cigarettes, brings you Dragnet.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. An
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: elderly man is found dead in the living room of
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: his home. There's a single bullet hole in his chest.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: On the surface, it appears the man took his own life.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: But the evidence points to the opposite.
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: Your job? Investigate.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: More and more smokers, coast to coast, are saying this
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: about king-size Fatima every day.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: They're different.
• 1:38
  Speaker 5: Better.
• 1:38
  Speaker 6: They are different. So pleasing.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. You see, Fatima
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: contains the finest domestic and Turkish tobaccos, superbly blended.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: And Fatima is extra mild, with a much.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Different, much better flavor and aroma.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Compare Fatima with any other king-size cigarette.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: You'll find Fatima gives you all the advantages of extra length,
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: plus Fatima quality, which no other king-size cigarette has.
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Next time, buy Fatima.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Best of all, king-size cigarettes. Dragnet, the documented drama of
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step-by-step
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: on the side of the law through an actual.
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: Case transcribed from official police files.
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: the story of your police force in action.
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: It was Wednesday, January 10th. It was cold in Los Angeles.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: We were working a day watch out of homicide detail.
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Thad Brown, chief
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: of detectives. My name's Friday. It was 8.25 a.m. when
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: I got to the police academy, the doctor's office. Morning.
• 3:03
  Speaker 7: Morning.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: Can I help you? I'm checking in for my annual physical.
• 3:06
  Speaker 6: Oh, okay.
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: All right. Let's see here, dame. Joe Friday. Let's see. Friday,
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: just like the day of the week? Yeah, that's right. Friday.
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: Can't seem to find it.
• 3:24
  Speaker 6: You sure you were notified?
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the teletype was posted in the office a couple
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: of days ago. Annual physical exams. My name was right
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: near the top of the list. F-R-I-D-A-Y. Oh, yeah.
• 3:35
  Speaker 8: Yeah, here you are.
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: Joseph Friday. That's it, yeah.
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: Well, all right, Friday.
• 3:38
  Speaker 6: Let's get your name down here.
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: Okay. Your age? Thirty-four. Where do you work? Central Homicide.
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: Serial number? 2288.
• 3:52
  Speaker 6: 2288.
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: Okay, Friday, you want to step this way? All right.
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: Step off your shoes, your coat and shirt. Okay. Well,
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: they keeping you busy? Oh, pretty busy, yeah.
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: 4,500 men in the department. Everyone has to have an
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: annual physical.
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: Better get you weighed and send you along inside. Doc's
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: probably ready for you by now. Over here.
• 4:22
  Speaker 5: Oh, never fails.
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: Dr. Vance's office. Who's that? Just a minute. It's for you, Friday.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: Your office. Thank you. Friday talking.
• 4:36
  Speaker 8: This is Ben. Joe, you about through over there?
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: No, not quite. I haven't seen Doc Vance yet. What's
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: the matter?
• 4:40
  Speaker 8: Dead body called out by Westlake Park. Radio car's out
• 4:43
  Speaker 8: there now.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: No one else in homicide to handle it?
• 4:45
  Speaker 8: Not right now. They're pretty busy. I'll use you coming
• 4:48
  Speaker 8: back to the office once you meet me out there.
• 4:50
  Speaker 8: It's 9320 Laurel Lane.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: Just a minute. I have that pad, Doc. Thank you.
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: 9320 Laurel. I got it. What's the story?
• 4:59
  Speaker 8: Old man was found dead in his living room. Bullet
• 5:01
  Speaker 8: hole in his chest.
• 5:02
  Speaker 6: Mm-hmm.
• 5:02
  Speaker 8: Men in the radio car said at first it looked
• 5:04
  Speaker 8: like the old man had killed himself. They're not so
• 5:06
  Speaker 8: sure now.
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: What do you mean?
• 5:07
  Speaker 8: They think he had some help.
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: 8.45 a.m. I left the doctor's office at the police
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: academy and drove to the Westlake area where I met
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: Ben in front of the cottage where the dead body
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: had been found. We went inside and checked with one
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: of the men from the radio car who was standing by.
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: The dead man was identified as Martin Latimer, age 68,
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: a retired owner of a couple of neighborhood grocery stores
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: in the city. He was lying sprawled on his side
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: on the floor. There was a bullet hole in his
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: chest just above the heart where the slug had entered
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: the body. There was another larger wound in the back
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: through the left shoulder blade where the bullet had emerged.
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: Approximately eight feet across the room from the body was
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: another chair. There was a Winchester rifle wired firmly to
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: the top, its muzzle pointing directly above the spot where
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: the body lay on the floor. A thick white string
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: was found wound firmly around the trigger of the rifle.
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: It ran through a metal ring on the stock of
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: the gun and stretched across the room where it had
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: been tied to the dead man's right index finger. At
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: first glance, it seemed like an obvious suicide arrangement. Officer Harkness,
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: one of the men in the radio car who'd answered
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: the call, took exception.
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: I don't know, Sergeant.
• 6:12
  Speaker 8: Maybe I'm all wet.
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: Just doesn't gel right for me.
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: Who discovered the body, Harkness?
• 6:16
  Speaker 7: Next door neighbor, Mrs.
• 6:17
  Speaker 9: Donworth.
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: My partner's with her now. You fellas call the crime lab?
• 6:21
  Speaker 8: Yeah, they're on their way out.
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: Was the old man the only one who lived in
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: the house here? Yeah, that's what the neighbor told us.
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: Sure like to see what the crime lab crew is.
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: Going to think of it. Well, what's the big question, Huggins? Well,
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: I know it's none of my business, Sergeant. You fellas
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: are the detectives.
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: I just couldn't help but notice, though. What's that?
• 6:36
  Speaker 7: Well, come here.
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: Now, over here, there's this rifle wired to the back
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: of the chair. Take a side along the barrel of
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: the rifle.
• 6:46
  Speaker 6: See what you think.
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: Right through the sight, huh? Mm-hmm. Pointed right above the
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: armchair over there, isn't it?
• 6:53
  Speaker 10: Yeah.
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: It's in a straight line with the body. Uh-huh. How
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: much fits? The old man pulled the string tied to
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: his index finger and it set off the trigger. Took
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: the slug through the chest, didn't it?
• 7:01
  Speaker 7: Yeah, that's what I figured.
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: Now, here, take a look at the wall directly behind
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: the old man.
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah. The slug went clean through the body, we know that.
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: Through the chest, above the heart, then out through the
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: shoulder blade. I see what you mean.
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: Now, here, now, take a look at this wall here.
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: Got a mark on it.
• 7:18
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 7:20
  Speaker 5: One thing's sure. If the old man was shot in
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: that position, the slug had to come this way.
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: Passed through his body right about this height here.
• 7:28
  Speaker 7: Uh-huh.
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: We ought to find the bullet hole in this wall.
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: Right around here.
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: It ought to be. Not a trace of a slug here.
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: Not much chance it could have been deflected, do you think?
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: That's what I thought.
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: It's a 30-30 Winchester. Enough power to go through a
• 7:42
  Speaker 6: couple of plaster walls.
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: Well, we know the slug went through the body. It's
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: got to be somewhere in one of these four walls.
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: Take a look over here and see what you think.
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: All right. Down here near the corner of the wall. Where? Well,
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: right here. Yeah, it looks like it, Ben.
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: Something got out of kilter. The rifle never could have
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: thrown a slug this far down on the wall.
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: Not the way it's.
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: Wired to the chair there.
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: Besides that, it's way out of line, at least four
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: feet the way I figured here. Well, I know it's
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: none of my business, Sergeant. I couldn't help but notice it, though.
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: You want me to stand by outside? Yeah, okay, if
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: you will. Would you mind checking with your partner? See
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: if we can have that neighbor lady brought over for questioning,
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: will you?
• 8:18
  Speaker 6: Right, I'll check with him now.
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: I'm going to take another look at that rifle.
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: Well, it sure doesn't add up too well, does it?
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: Even if the old man jerked the gun when he
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: pulled the trigger with that string arrangement, the slug couldn't
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: have passed through his chest, out his back, and then
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: hit the wall where it did.
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: Stand just behind the body, will you, Joe? See if
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: it's possible to line it up.
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: All right, what about here? Does that look about it
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: to you?
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: Uh... Yeah, that's good.
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: Let me see here.
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: No, not a chance, Joe.
• 8:45
  Speaker 6: It's way out of line.
• 8:47
  Speaker 5: That's the gun that killed him. The old man didn't
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: pull the trigger. Not from there anyway.
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: Well, there's one other chance.
• 8:52
  Speaker 6: Yeah?
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: Somebody pulled it for him. Lieutenant Lee Jones arrived with
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: his crime lab crew and went to work. We put
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: in a call to the coroner's office, and then the
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: dead man's neighbor, Mrs. Elsie Donworth, was brought over for questioning.
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: She was a chubby matronly lady, about 45. She told
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: us she'd been a neighbor to the aging Martin Latimer
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: for more than 10 years.
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: I take it you knew Mr. Latimer pretty well, ma'am?
• 9:16
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I suppose.
• 9:18
  Speaker 11: Didn't have any relatives, poor man.
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: All alone.
• 9:21
  Speaker 11: He was in the grocery business for years. He made
• 9:24
  Speaker 11: some nice money, I guess. retired about eight years ago,
• 9:28
  Speaker 11: sold both his stores, and then come from a mortgage
• 9:31
  Speaker 11: on one of them. $ 150 a month. Yeah, he was
• 9:35
  Speaker 11: very comfortable. Wasn't a penny painter at all, but he
• 9:39
  Speaker 11: was thrifty.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: It was the.
• 9:40
  Speaker 11: Same way with my husband, Claude. He used to say,
• 9:43
  Speaker 11: take care of the dimes and the dollars will take
• 9:46
  Speaker 11: care of themselves.
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: Well, Mrs. Dunworth, can you think of any reason why
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: Latimer would want to take his own life?
• 9:51
  Speaker 11: Oh, I suppose. Poor old man's getting along in years.
• 9:55
  Speaker 11: For a long time there, he was afraid he was
• 9:57
  Speaker 11: going to die with cancer.
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: Is that so?
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: Did Mrs. Latimer have cancer?
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: Do you know?
• 10:00
  Speaker 6: Oh, no.
• 10:01
  Speaker 11: He kept thinking he was going to die with it.
• 10:05
  Speaker 11: Could you come next door to my place while I
• 10:08
  Speaker 11: get some of my laundry out?
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: We could talk there.
• 10:10
  Speaker 11: It's just across the yard.
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: All right, ma'am. That'll be fine. Hey, do you want
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: to tell Lee Jones we'll be next door, Ben? I
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: guess you better let Harkness know, too. Yeah, right. I'll
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: tell him. Thank you.
• 10:22
  Speaker 11: About that cancer business officer, Mr. Latimer was always talking
• 10:26
  Speaker 11: about it.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am.
• 10:27
  Speaker 11: He finally went to a doctor about it. That was
• 10:30
  Speaker 11: last week only. He came back and he told me
• 10:32
  Speaker 11: the doctor said for him not to be so silly
• 10:34
  Speaker 11: about it. He was a well man in good health.
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: When was the last time that you saw Latimer, ma'am?
• 10:40
  Speaker 11: The day before yesterday. Oh, he laughed and joked over
• 10:44
  Speaker 11: the bad things. Poor old man. He had such a
• 10:48
  Speaker 11: nice smile. Reminded me a good deal of Claude. That
• 10:50
  Speaker 11: was my husband.
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: Well, I'd like to have your honest opinion, Ms. Donner.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: Do you think Mr. Latimer killed himself?
• 10:56
  Speaker 11: Well, I suppose. That rifle in there, that terrible contraption.
• 11:00
  Speaker 5: Joe, I wonder if I could talk to you a minute?
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah, okay. Would you like to go on ahead over
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: next door, ma'am? We'll be right with you.
• 11:05
  Speaker 11: All right, officer.
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: Thank you very much. We'll be right there, ma'am.
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 11:11
  Speaker 5: Crime lab crew's having a field day. They say if
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: the old man shot himself with that rig, it ought
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: to make Ripley's column.
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: They find anything definite?
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: Dusted the rifle for fingerprints.
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: Didn't find a one. How about that? Yeah. Makes less
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: sense than that slug buried in the corner of the wall,
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: doesn't it? Sure does.
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: Checked the desk in the living room, found some correspondence
• 11:28
  Speaker 5: that I was having with some woman through a lonely
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: hearts club.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: You find any reason why he'd want to die?
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: Pretty good reason why he'd.
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: Want to live. Huh? Found a photograph.
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: Beautiful girl. Looked to be about 24 or 5. Huh?
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: What about it? She was going to marry him. The
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: crime lab crew continued their routine investigation of Martin Latimer's cottage.
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: They removed a 30-30 slug from the corner of one wall.
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: Ben and I went next door to question the neighbor, Mrs. Donworth.
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: There didn't seem to be any common ground at all
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: between the evidence in the house and the information that
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: she had to offer. As we continued questioning her, Mrs.
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: Donworth remembered that a month before, Latimer had told her
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: that something might happen to him and he wanted to
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: make out a will. He asked if she would witness
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: the will. A few days later, Latimer's lawyer came to
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: the house and Mrs. Donworth witnessed the signing. At that time,
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: she said Latimer made the remark, I don't feel like
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: going on much longer anyway. If death means arrest, I
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: think I deserve one. Mrs. Donworth kept busy with the
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: laundry while we interviewed her.
• 12:27
  Speaker 11: Could you let me get by to the mangle, officer?
• 12:29
  Speaker 11: I have to get some of this ironing done.
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry.
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: I'm afraid there's one thing I don't remember you telling us, ma'am.
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: Did you hear anything out of the ordinary going on
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: next door this.
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: Morning or last night?
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: No.
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: Nothing I noticed, anyway.
• 12:45
  Speaker 7: Officer, did you see that.
• 12:47
  Speaker 11: Knob on the washer, the one on the left?
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: Oh, you mean this over here?
• 12:51
  Speaker 11: Yeah, just lift it up and turn.
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: It around off, please.
• 12:54
  Speaker 11: It says off right there on the dial.
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am. I see it.
• 12:57
  Speaker 8: There you are. Yeah, thanks.
• 12:59
  Speaker 11: No, there was nothing I heard from next door to
• 13:02
  Speaker 11: remark about.
• 13:02
  Speaker 7: Of course, it's so noisy.
• 13:05
  Speaker 11: Around here that time of morning, you can't even hear
• 13:07
  Speaker 11: yourself think anyway.
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: How's that, ma'am?
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: Trucks passing by up and down.
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: Every morning.
• 13:12
  Speaker 11: They're not small trucks, either. They start in at 6 a.m.
• 13:15
  Speaker 11: They rattle past for two.
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: Three hours, please.
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: That's the first good explanation we've had on this thing.
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: Could you give us the names of some of the
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: other people on the street who knew Mr. Latimer pretty well, Mrs.
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: Dunwood?
• 13:25
  Speaker 11: Yeah, I could. I don't think any of them knew
• 13:28
  Speaker 11: the poor old man as well as I did. Most
• 13:31
  Speaker 11: of them are younger folks, you know, parties and things.
• 13:35
  Speaker 11: When you get up around 65 or past it like
• 13:38
  Speaker 11: you shall add them, parties don't mean so much anymore.
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am, I understand.
• 13:43
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 13:44
  Speaker 11: Just a nice, quiet home with a good heating system.
• 13:47
  Speaker 11: Good books on the shelf.
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: Good man around the house.
• 13:50
  Speaker 8: Is that all you can ask for?
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am.
• 13:53
  Speaker 5: Well, thank you very much. We'll leave our card here
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: in case you want to contact us for any reason.
• 13:58
  Speaker 9: All right, Oscar.
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: There's one more thing, Mrs. Donworth. We understand Latimer was
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: corresponding with several women through a Lonely Hearts Club. Did
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: he ever mention that to you?
• 14:08
  Speaker 8: No, he never did.
• 14:10
  Speaker 11: I found out from the mailman.
• 14:12
  Speaker 8: He's a regular gossip.
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: Uh-huh. And Latimer never mentioned any of the women that
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: he corresponded with, is that right?
• 14:17
  Speaker 11: Well, I pretended I didn't even know about it.
• 14:20
  Speaker 6: He never brought it up.
• 14:23
  Speaker 11: Don't understand why he'd want to meet a lady that way.
• 14:26
  Speaker 11: All most of them are looking for is a man
• 14:28
  Speaker 11: with money so they can quit work and lay around
• 14:30
  Speaker 11: the house.
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: Well, thanks again, Mrs. Donnelly. It's been very helpful. Yeah.
• 14:35
  Speaker 11: Poor old man. I wonder what men write letters after
• 14:38
  Speaker 11: silly women. A little good they'd have done him. He
• 14:41
  Speaker 11: wrote letters all over the country. Getting tired of working myself.
• 14:46
  Speaker 11: Could have saved the postage, too.
• 14:47
  Speaker 6: Beg your pardon?
• 14:49
  Speaker 11: I was right next door. Would have married him in
• 14:51
  Speaker 11: a minute.
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: We left Mrs. Donwood's house a few minutes past noon
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: and we went back next door to Latimer's cottage. The
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: crime lab crew had finished their investigation and the deputy
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: coroner arrived. He took the body downtown for autopsy. We
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: talked over the crime lab findings with Lieutenant Lee Jones,
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: and he felt the same way that Ben and I did.
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: The theory that Latimer had shot himself to death was
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: possible in many respects, but it was far from plausible.
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: We checked through Latimer's correspondence with the women that he'd
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: contacted by mail through the Lonely Hearts Club. Especially the
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: young girl he obviously intended to marry, judging from his
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: letters to her. Her picture showed her to be a brunette,
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: dark eyes, young, and very attractive. The inscription at the
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: bottom read, With Love, Catherine. There was no return address
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: on either the photo or the letter. Ben called to
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: check with the Lonely Hearts Club.
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am. No, that's all right. We'll probably be dropping
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: down to talk to you.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: Yes, boy. What'd they say?
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: Might be it, Joe. Club secretary says they've been having
• 15:51
  Speaker 5: trouble with somebody who signs her pictures just like this one.
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: With Love, Catherine.
• 15:55
  Speaker 6: Uh-huh.
• 15:55
  Speaker 5: I described the picture, and the secretary says it's the
• 15:57
  Speaker 5: same girl.
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: What's the angle?
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: The girl doesn't belong to the club, but somehow she
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: got a list of the members and their addresses. She
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: writes to them, usually old men. Gets them set for marriage,
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: and they send for her. Her letters come from the east,
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: from different cities. She writes and asks for a train
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: fare out here. The men send her their money for
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: clothes and train fare, and that's.
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: The last of it.
• 16:16
  Speaker 5: She's gone.
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: Oh, that adds up, all right. Now, this one letter here.
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: This one. I hate to ask you, dear, but if
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: you could send me the traveling money and just a
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: little extra for some clothes... I will take the first
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: train and be with you in a week to become
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: your wife, awaiting that precious moment and so on.
• 16:33
  Speaker 7: Hmm.
• 16:34
  Speaker 5: Kind of pointed on thick.
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: What's the date on that? Let's see. December 30th. It's
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: 12 days ago.
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: What do you think?
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: That's possible. She could have showed up, tried to grab
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: all the old man's money she could find. Maybe he
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: caught her at it. She killed him, rigged up this
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: phony setup to make it look like Latimer shot himself, huh?
• 16:50
  Speaker 5: And to hold more water if we could find out
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: she really came here. Maybe we better start ringing a
• 16:54
  Speaker 5: few doorbells. The other neighbors might come up with something.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: What do you say? Well, let me see that girl's
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: picture again, will you?
• 17:00
  Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: No photographer's name.
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: Now, look in the back here, Ben. No, down here
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: in the corner. In the corner of the picture mounting.
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: XXX6Y3.
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: Must be some kind of manufacturer's mark. Photography supplier. Guess
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: it stands for the type of paper, huh? You know
• 17:21
  Speaker 5: anything about the photo business?
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: No, I don't.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: Neither do I.
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: Let's find somebody who does, huh? Before we drove back
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: to the office, Ben and I covered the rest of
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: the neighborhood and talked to everybody who knew the dead man,
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: Martin Latimer, even remotely. They told us nothing that we
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: didn't already know. There'd been no strangers seen visiting the
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: old man. No one had noticed anything out of the
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: ordinary in Latimer's daily routine. Three o'clock that afternoon, we
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: checked with the police photo lab. They told us that
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: the symbols stamped on the cardboard frame of the photograph
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: signed Catherine were symbols used by a photo supply company
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: up in San Francisco. We went back to the office
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: and got in touch with the San Francisco firm. We
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: were told that the symbols indicated the style and the
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: size of photographic mounting, and further, that this particular type
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: of mounting was distributed only throughout seven western states. They
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: gave us a list of 18 photo studios in Los
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: Angeles who kept that particular amount in stock. It was
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: a long chance, but we started checking them out. Meantime,
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: we'd run the girl through R & I and gotten
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: out an APB seeking information on her. Three days later,
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: Ben and I had checked out 10 of the 18
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: photo studios on our list. The 11th was the M
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: & Y family portraits on Melrose. Yes, sir.
• 18:30
  Speaker 5: Can I help you? Police officers, would you mind taking
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: a look at this photograph here, please?
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: Let's see. Would you like an enlargement?
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: Got a special price on enlargements this week.
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: No, sir. I'd just like to know if you can
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: identify this girl, that's all. Well, do you recognize her
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: at all, sir?
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: I know her. Sure you wouldn't like an enlargement?
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: You're in a cruiser car of a Metropolitan Police Department.
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: You receive a routine radio call.
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: All units, attention, all units.
• 19:05
  Speaker 9: Pick up and hold for investigation the following vehicle. 1948 Ford,
• 19:09
  Speaker 9: two-door sedan, black, white sidewall tires.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: There are many cars that fit this description. You listen
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: for more facts.
• 19:17
  Speaker 9: This car will have extensive damage to right front end.
• 19:20
  Speaker 9: License number, 9 Robert 9, 707. In the seven column,
• 19:26
  Speaker 9: 9 Robert 9, 707, KMA 360.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: Now you can pin it down to one. It's the
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: same with cigarettes. There are many king-size brands to choose from.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: But when you know all the facts, you'll make your choice, Fatima.
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: Here are those facts. Fatimas are the same in length
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: and circumference as any other king-size cigarette. 85 millimeters long,
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: 1 1 64 inches around. And Fatima filters the smoke
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: exactly the same long distance. But in Fatima, the difference
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: is quality. Fatima gives you extra mildness. A much different,
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: much better flavor and aroma.
• 20:08
  Speaker 10: Remember.
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: Fatima.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: Gives long cigarette smokers all the advantages of extra length
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: plus Fatima quality, which no other king-size cigarette has.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Next time, insist on the best. Buy Fatima. Best of
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: all king-size cigarettes.
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: Saturday, January 13th, 1.35 p.m. We showed the photograph of
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: the girl to the proprietor of the photo studio on
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: Melrose Avenue, and he identified her as one of his customers.
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: He told us her name was Doris Chambers. She was
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: 22 years old and a postgraduate student in chemistry at
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: the university. She came from a fairly well-to-do family, and
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: her father was the president of a local neighborhood bank.
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: She didn't even come close to the type of girl
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: that we were looking for. We got the address from
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: the photographer, drove out to the home, and interviewed the
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: Chambers girl. She gave a younger appearance than she did
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: in her picture. She couldn't recognize the handwriting on the photo,
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: nor did she understand the inscription with Love, Catherine. After
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: questioning her, it became apparent that she knew nothing at
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: all about 68-year-old Martin Latimer.
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: I wonder if you'd mind taking another look at the
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: handwriting on the picture, miss?
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: Familiar at all? No.
• 21:22
  Speaker 7: No, I couldn't be sure either way. Seems like I've seen.
• 21:25
  Speaker 6: It, though.
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: Well, when did you say you had this picture made, miss?
• 21:28
  Speaker 10: About a year ago at graduation. My mother had extra
• 21:31
  Speaker 10: copies made up.
• 21:32
  Speaker 7: She liked it. I didn't care for it much.
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: Could you tell us how many people have prints of
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: this picture?
• 21:37
  Speaker 10: Mama had two dozen copies made up. She took 12
• 21:39
  Speaker 10: and I took 12. She sent them to relatives, friends
• 21:42
  Speaker 10: of ours.
• 21:43
  Speaker 7: Kept a few.
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: What did you do with yours?
• 21:45
  Speaker 7: Sent them to friends, girls at school, a few of
• 21:48
  Speaker 7: my boyfriends.
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: Can you remember if you autographed any of them?
• 21:50
  Speaker 7: Yeah, some of them. The ones from my girlfriend. Others
• 21:54
  Speaker 7: I gave out plain.
• 21:55
  Speaker 5: Can you try and think who you gave those to, Miss,
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: the unsigned pictures?
• 22:00
  Speaker 7: One went to Carl, I know that. And Ray, and Fred,
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: and Don.
• 22:05
  Speaker 6: Warren.
• 22:06
  Speaker 7: I think that's it.
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: I wonder if we could have their full names and addresses, please.
• 22:12
  Speaker 7: Yes, all right. I don't know what I'm saving all
• 22:15
  Speaker 7: this junk for.
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: Old letters and.
• 22:18
  Speaker 7: Could I see that picture, please?
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I hear you.
• 22:23
  Speaker 7: Look, it's the same writing. I thought I'd seen it before.
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: There?
• 22:26
  Speaker 7: This old letter from Warren... See the writing? Doesn't it
• 22:29
  Speaker 7: look the same to you?
• 22:30
  Speaker 6: Hmm.
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: Looks close to you. Yeah, well, I've done my own handwriting.
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: Check it over. Who is this Warren, Miss Chambers?
• 22:36
  Speaker 7: Warren White. Here's his address right here.
• 22:39
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I'll copy it, Jim.
• 22:40
  Speaker 6: Fine.
• 22:41
  Speaker 10: Warren and I went to college together. We were engaged
• 22:44
  Speaker 10: to be married for a while, and then I broke
• 22:45
  Speaker 10: it off.
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: I see.
• 22:47
  Speaker 7: Warren's a serious boy. He was very thorough, a perfectionist.
• 22:51
  Speaker 7: You know, Sergeant, he never does things halfway.
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: That so?
• 22:54
  Speaker 7: Never known one to do anything in his life halfway,
• 22:56
  Speaker 7: not one.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: Well, he's going to have a perfect record if that
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: handwriting matches.
• 23:00
  Speaker 7: What can they do to him?
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: I don't know, but they won't do it halfway. 2.55 p.m.
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: We left the home of Doris Chambers and drove down
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: Beverly Boulevard to 743 North Clairwood Avenue, an apartment house
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: where the suspect was supposed to be living. We talked
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: to the manager and he told us that Warren White
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: had moved without giving notice three days before on January 10th,
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: the same day 68-year-old Martin Latimer was found dead in
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: his home. We got on the phone, talked to Doris
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: Chambers again, and she gave us a lead on Warren
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: White's married sister. 7.30 p.m. We met with the sister
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: of the murder suspect, and she told us that her
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: brother Warren had phoned that morning and asked for an
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: emergency loan of $ 200, which she didn't have to give him.
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: The sister gave us White's new address, and we checked
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: it out. It was one of those run-down, futuristic-style apartment
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: houses built in the mid-30s. It was on a narrow
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: road high above Sunset Boulevard, overlooking most of Hollywood. White
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: wasn't in, and the manager said he wasn't expected back
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: till early the next morning. We had the manager let
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: us in White's apartment. We waited. Midnight. 1 a.m. No
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: sign of the suspect.
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: No denying it is sure a beautiful view from here.
• 24:10
  Speaker 4: The best in town. Be nice for single fellows up here,
• 24:13
  Speaker 4: wouldn't it? Wouldn't work with the family, though.
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: How about you, Joe? Why don't you get your mother
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: looking around up here? It'd be a beautiful place with
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: the two of you.
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: No, I don't think Ma would ever leave the house.
• 24:21
  Speaker 4: She's been there for 40 years. I guess she'll stay
• 24:23
  Speaker 4: there till she dies. Would be nice up here, though,
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: wouldn't it? What a view, huh?
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: Mm-hmm.
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: Why don't you try talking her into it? You got
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: nothing to lose.
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: I might do that. Why don't you slide up one
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: of the windows? You've got a little stuff in here.
• 24:36
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: Oh, smell that air, huh?
• 24:43
  Speaker 6: That's great.
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: What time you got? 1.45.
• 24:49
  Speaker 6: Oh, it's.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: A long night. We waited. 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 4.30.
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: It was cold. Still no sign of the suspect. Warren White.
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: 5 a.m. 5.30. 6 a.m. The sky was getting light
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: over in the east.
• 25:14
  Speaker 7: 6.30.
• 25:14
  Speaker 9: 7 a.m.
• 25:14
  Speaker 4: 7.30. We kept waiting. No sign of the suspect. We
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: called the office and arranged for a relief. 8 a.m.
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: We could hear groups of youngsters passing by outside, trooping
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: into the main yard of a grammar school just below
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: the apartment house. We kept waiting. At 8.15 a.m., we
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: heard a car pull up in front of the apartment house.
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: Footsteps came down the driveway, up the path, and stopped
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: outside the door. We heard a key turn in the lock.
• 25:48
  Speaker 6: What is this? What do you want?
• 25:50
  Speaker 5: You're Warren, right?
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 25:52
  Speaker 5: The police officer's got some questions we'd like to ask him.
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: It's all right, officers.
• 25:57
  Speaker 6: Why don't you sit down? I'm not going to give
• 25:58
  Speaker 6: you any trouble.
• 25:59
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 26:00
  Speaker 6: I killed him. Maybe I'll never know why, but I
• 26:03
  Speaker 6: killed him.
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: You want to tell us about it?
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: You must have had a reason for it, rigging it
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: for a suicide. Do you have anything against him?
• 26:10
  Speaker 6: I hardly even knew him. He used that picture of
• 26:12
  Speaker 6: Doris to fool him. I made some good money doing it.
• 26:15
  Speaker 6: I needed it.
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: Are you willing to give us a statement about the
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: whole thing?
• 26:18
  Speaker 6: I haven't anything to hide, officer. The minute I killed him,
• 26:21
  Speaker 6: I knew it was all over. Right there in that
• 26:23
  Speaker 6: one minute. I knew you'd come and find me somehow.
• 26:25
  Speaker 6: I didn't know when, but you'd come and find me.
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: Okay, Ben. You better head downtown. Yeah.
• 26:30
  Speaker 6: What? It's a great sound, isn't it?
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: What's that?
• 26:34
  Speaker 6: The schoolyard. The kids. Got a great sound to it.
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: Good one. You want to get your hat?
• 26:41
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 26:45
  Speaker 6: How can anybody figure? You start in the schoolyard like
• 26:48
  Speaker 6: those kids down there, running around, yelling. I started the same.
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: Better get going.
• 26:52
  Speaker 6: I wonder what it is that happens. An eight-year-old redhead kid...
• 26:58
  Speaker 6: There must be one down there now. The other kids
• 27:00
  Speaker 6: will grow up, get jobs, work, and die.
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: It'll be all right.
• 27:03
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 27:04
  Speaker 6: The one kid will end up in an alley with
• 27:06
  Speaker 6: a gun in his hand.
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: How can anybody figure? I don't know.
• 27:11
  Speaker 6: A bunch of kids playing in a schoolyard. Someday one
• 27:14
  Speaker 6: of them's a killer.
• 27:15
  Speaker 4: Yeah, let's go.
• 27:17
  Speaker 6: You tell me. What's the answer?
• 27:20
  Speaker 9: The End.
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: The story you have just heard was true.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: Only the names were changed to protect the innocent.
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: On April 2nd, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 88,
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: In a moment, the results of that trial.
• 27:40
  Speaker 7: And now, here is our star, Jack Webb.
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: Thank you. Friends, it's come to my attention that some
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: people have a misunderstanding about the cost of Fatimas. Well,
• 27:49
  Speaker 4: I'd sure like to straighten that out for you right now.
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: The cost of Fatima is the same as the cigarette
• 27:55
  Speaker 4: you're now smoking. Yes, that's right. Fatima's cost no more.
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: But in Fatima, the difference is quality. Buy Fatima in
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: the golden yellow package.
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: Warren Thomas White was tried and convicted of murder in
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: the first degree. He received a sentence of life imprisonment.
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: He is still serving his term in the state penitentiary, Folsom, California.
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: Ladies and gentlemen.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: To build our strength against aggression, we've got to equip
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: our armed forces with weapons of war and at the
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: same time produce plenty of civilian goods so that we
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: can keep prices down.
• 28:38
  Speaker 4: Remember, the better we produce, the stronger we grow.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: from official files. Technical advice comes from the Office of
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: Chief of Police, W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: Fatima, best of all, king-size cigarettes, has brought you Dragnet, transcribed.
• 29:09
  Speaker 4: From Los Angeles.
• 29:13
  Speaker 6: Stay tuned for Counterspy next over NBC.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: Dragnet, episode 114, Big Winchester, concludes here. Follow Dragnet for
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: more classic broadcasts.