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Transcript

Dragnet: The Big Building (EP4788) · The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio)

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnet. But
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: first I do want to encourage you. If you're enjoying
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  Speaker 1: the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software.
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  Speaker 1: And today's program is brought to you in part by
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  Speaker 1: show on a one time basis support dot Great Detectives
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  Speaker 1: dot net. I want to thank Gene for supporting the
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  Speaker 1: ongoing Patreon supporters for as little as two dollars per
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  Speaker 1: month at Patreon dot Great Detectives, dot neit well Now
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: from June fourteenth, nineteen fifty one, here is the big Building.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: The story you were about to hear is true, only
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: the names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: a detective sergeant. You're assigned to homicide detail. A wealthy
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: society woman in your city vanishes. Two months passed before
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: her disappearance is reported to the police. There's suspicion of
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: foul play. Your job investigate.
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: Drag Net, the documented drama of an actual crime. For
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: the next thirty minutes, in cooperation of the Los Angeles
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Police Department, you will travel step by step on the
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: side of the law through an actual case transcribed from
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: official police buyos, from beginning to end, from crime to punishment.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: Dragnet is the story of your police force in action.
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: It was Monday, February eighth, was foggy in Los Angeles.
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: We're working the day watch out of homicide detail. My
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Thad Brown, Cheap of Detectives.
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: My name is Friday. We're on the way out from
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: the office and it was eleven twenty three am when
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: we got to the ninth floor of the Medical Dental
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: building from nine to twelve.
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: Doctor Marston, Yes, what is it, police officers? Doc you
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: I talk to you.
• 2:57
  Speaker 6: Oh yes, I'm sorry, daydreaming. I guess I didn't hear
• 3:00
  Speaker 6: you come in.
• 3:00
  Speaker 7: Well, my name is Friday. Doctor. This is my partner,
• 3:02
  Speaker 7: Sarzan Romero. How do you do, gentlemen. It's about the
• 3:05
  Speaker 7: missing person's report on your wife. You filed it yesterday.
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: Yes, that's right, sergeant. Certainly glad you came. Like to
• 3:11
  Speaker 6: have this whole thing straighten out. As quickly as possible.
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: I want my wife back with me.
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: Well, we'll do everything we can, doctor. There's a few
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: things we'd like to have you straightened out for us,
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: if you will. I thought I made it pretty clear
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: in that report I filed yesterday. What is it you
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: have a question about.
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: I've got a copy of the report right here, says
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: says your wife disappeared December ninth.
• 3:30
  Speaker 6: That's a little over two months ago. Dot there, Yes,
• 3:32
  Speaker 6: that's correct. December ninth, Sunday night, we were out having dinner.
• 3:35
  Speaker 6: We had a little argument, and Louise left. I didn't
• 3:38
  Speaker 6: hear from her until the following Friday. That's when she
• 3:40
  Speaker 6: wrote me. The first letter was from New York.
• 3:42
  Speaker 7: We weren't you a little alarmed to find out your
• 3:44
  Speaker 7: wife had left you in Gone East?
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: Well?
• 3:45
  Speaker 6: I wasn't too happy about it, but we'd had a
• 3:47
  Speaker 6: few arguments before. I always figured it that both of
• 3:50
  Speaker 6: us good if Louise got away for a little while. No,
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: I wasn't particularly worried as friends in New York? Would
• 3:57
  Speaker 6: you care for cigarette?
• 3:58
  Speaker 7: Not right now? Doctor light for you?
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: Thank you. I understand your wife didn't stay with her
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: friends this trip. Doctor No.
• 4:07
  Speaker 6: Apparently she didn't. However, I wasn't too concerns. She wrote
• 4:10
  Speaker 6: me letters twice a week, and then she wrote Stanley.
• 4:13
  Speaker 6: That's her son. He's in military school. We has wrote
• 4:16
  Speaker 6: to him regularly too.
• 4:18
  Speaker 5: And the last letter you got from your wife was
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: about two weeks ago, yes, or exactly two weeks ago.
• 4:23
  Speaker 7: I had the same postmark on New York. Will have
• 4:25
  Speaker 7: me any idea at all where she was staying back there?
• 4:28
  Speaker 6: That's a strange part of it. Sergeant Louise didn't put
• 4:30
  Speaker 6: her return address on any of the letters. I inquired
• 4:33
  Speaker 6: of some of our friends back there, but none of
• 4:35
  Speaker 6: them hadn't seen her. I suppose she was staying at
• 4:38
  Speaker 6: a hotel. I don't know which one, though.
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: Well about those letters, doctor, you know you're sure that
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: they're in your wife's handwriting. You don't think they could
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: be forgers doing.
• 4:46
  Speaker 6: It's possible, but I don't think so. Sergeant, I know
• 4:48
  Speaker 6: my wife's handwriting. Do you have all the letters with you, sir? Yes,
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  Speaker 6: I'll have my secretary get them before you leave. She's
• 4:54
  Speaker 6: out to lunch now. I oh, student pleense cry, yes,
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  Speaker 6: Doctor Marston, well, missus Taylor, Oh, yes, I'm glad you
• 5:03
  Speaker 6: reminded me.
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 5:06
  Speaker 6: I'm sorry, officers, there's a denture I have to have
• 5:08
  Speaker 6: ready for one of my patients by this afternoon.
• 5:10
  Speaker 7: Would you mind if I.
• 5:11
  Speaker 6: Go ahead and work on it while we talk here? No,
• 5:13
  Speaker 6: it's perfect, all right, doctor, you go right ahead. Do
• 5:14
  Speaker 6: you mind sipping in the lad back here?
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: All right?
• 5:17
  Speaker 7: Go ahead, man.
• 5:22
  Speaker 6: I'm sorry to interrupt everything like this. I do have
• 5:25
  Speaker 6: to have this denture ready, though.
• 5:27
  Speaker 7: We understand.
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: Doctor. You say the night your wife Louise disappeared, the
• 5:32
  Speaker 5: two of you had an argument.
• 5:33
  Speaker 7: Yes, that's correct.
• 5:35
  Speaker 6: We were having dinner out at our country club and
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: I guess Louise had too many cocktails. She gets in
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: a nasty mood when she drinks too much. I asked
• 5:42
  Speaker 6: her to stop drinking. She flared up and walked out
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: of the place.
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: Uh huh.
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  Speaker 7: Did anyone besides yourself see her leave?
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: Oh?
• 5:48
  Speaker 6: He has two or three couples friends of ours. When
• 5:51
  Speaker 6: I found out Louise had gone off to New York,
• 5:53
  Speaker 6: I thought, well, it was her way of teaching me
• 5:55
  Speaker 6: a lesson. I wasn't too disturbed about it until the
• 5:58
  Speaker 6: letters stopped coming.
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: But your son, Stanley, do you know if he's still
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: getting the letters from his mother.
• 6:03
  Speaker 7: No, he's not.
• 6:04
  Speaker 6: I telephoned him, but his school he stopped getting letters
• 6:06
  Speaker 6: about the same time I did.
• 6:09
  Speaker 7: Let's see, where did I put that cast to me? Oh,
• 6:13
  Speaker 7: let's see.
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: We are then, as far as you know, doctor, no
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: one at all has actually seen your wife since that
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: night at the country club when she walked out and left.
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: M hm, that's correct.
• 6:30
  Speaker 6: Did I say if I hadn't been getting those letters
• 6:33
  Speaker 6: from her every week from New York, I would have
• 6:34
  Speaker 6: called the police in long ago?
• 6:36
  Speaker 7: Would you excuse me me? Oh?
• 6:38
  Speaker 6: Oh, yeah, got a bit of oxide in this old
• 6:43
  Speaker 6: crown I've cast here.
• 6:46
  Speaker 7: A little bit of acid should take care of that. Well,
• 6:52
  Speaker 7: what's your theory on all this? Doctor?
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: Your wife leaves suddenly, and she goes to New York,
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: she corresponds with you and your son, and then her
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: letters stopped coming.
• 7:00
  Speaker 7: What do you think might have happened?
• 7:02
  Speaker 6: Frankly, Sergeant, the whole thing's a terrible family mix up.
• 7:06
  Speaker 6: Get this crown here out of the acid.
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: Well, how do you mean, doctor, a family mixed up?
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: For just that, There's only one reason for Louise disappearing,
• 7:23
  Speaker 6: the way she has money, money, and that stepfather of
• 7:26
  Speaker 6: hers say, would you switch on that small motor there, Sergeant,
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: I've got to polish up this crown and get it
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: in shape.
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: Oh yeah, sure, thank you.
• 7:39
  Speaker 7: Well, what do you mean, doctor, how does your wife's
• 7:41
  Speaker 7: stepfather fit into all this money?
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: Man, it's about the size of it. I don't know
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  Speaker 6: if you're aware of it, but my wife, Louise was
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: left considerable amount of money by her, and well those
• 7:52
  Speaker 6: are fortune. As a matter of fact, Louise's stepfather has
• 7:56
  Speaker 6: always been trying to get his hands on it.
• 7:58
  Speaker 7: Excuse me again, sure a boy.
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  Speaker 4: Well, and you think your wife's stepfather is responsible for
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: her disappearance?
• 8:10
  Speaker 7: Is that right?
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: Oh?
• 8:11
  Speaker 6: I'm not making any direct accusations, Sergeant. Two days ago,
• 8:15
  Speaker 6: or two days before Louise disappeared, I had eighty thousand
• 8:18
  Speaker 6: dollars in bonds.
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  Speaker 7: Signed over to her.
• 8:21
  Speaker 6: Checked around since she's been gone, haven't been able to
• 8:23
  Speaker 6: locate the bonds anywhere.
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: You think she had the bonds with her when she left.
• 8:27
  Speaker 6: Because I'm sure, pardon me, just a that's a fine
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  Speaker 6: cast with yourp margins on.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: Now the eighty thousand dollars worth of bonds, doctor, do
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: you have any way of proving that you gave those
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: to your wife.
• 8:46
  Speaker 6: Well, certainly, I had my wife signed receipt for them.
• 8:49
  Speaker 6: You're welcome to check it over if you like.
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: Just how do you think your wife stepfather figures in?
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: There is there any indication he might have made a
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: move to get the bond.
• 9:01
  Speaker 6: Enough to satisfy me? Yes, my secretary told me about it.
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  Speaker 6: Leonora Dexter. That's the girl in the reception room the
• 9:08
  Speaker 6: night after my wife left me at the country club,
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: that would be December tenth. Miss Dexter was at the
• 9:13
  Speaker 6: airport waiting for a friend to arrive on a plane.
• 9:15
  Speaker 6: While she was waiting, she saw my wife and her
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  Speaker 6: stepfather cross through the waiting room and go out to
• 9:19
  Speaker 6: the main gate.
• 9:21
  Speaker 7: Your secretary sure it was really your wife and her.
• 9:23
  Speaker 6: Stepfather, And that's what she told me. You are certainly
• 9:25
  Speaker 6: welcome to talk to her yourself if your life.
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: Yes, Well, besides the bunds, do you know of anything
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: else to value that your wife had with him when
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: she left?
• 9:35
  Speaker 6: No, I don't think so. She had her first coat on.
• 9:38
  Speaker 6: Of course, it's expensive. She was wearing a diamond ring
• 9:41
  Speaker 6: anniversary gift for me, large solitaire worth quite a.
• 9:43
  Speaker 7: Bit of money.
• 9:44
  Speaker 6: You can get the description from the jeweler. I'll give
• 9:46
  Speaker 6: you his name, a right, doctor, your wife's stepfather. We'd
• 9:50
  Speaker 6: like to have his name and address.
• 9:51
  Speaker 7: Too, surely.
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I'll have my secretary check on both of them.
• 9:53
  Speaker 6: Right now, Sergeant, you've got to find Louise.
• 9:59
  Speaker 7: I've got to have a with me. What would do
• 10:01
  Speaker 7: everything we can?
• 10:01
  Speaker 6: Doctor, We promise you that I know my wife wouldn't
• 10:04
  Speaker 6: stay away of her own free will, not this long,
• 10:06
  Speaker 6: not at a time like this.
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: How do you mean?
• 10:09
  Speaker 7: Let me show you here it is.
• 10:18
  Speaker 6: This is the final drawing the architect made for us.
• 10:21
  Speaker 6: What do you think of it?
• 10:22
  Speaker 7: Oh? That certainly is.
• 10:25
  Speaker 6: It's got to be our own building, twelve stories, fine
• 10:28
  Speaker 6: as in the city, Robert A. Marston building for a
• 10:31
  Speaker 6: professional man. Louise and I have looked forward to it
• 10:35
  Speaker 6: for a long time.
• 10:36
  Speaker 7: I understand.
• 10:37
  Speaker 6: We settled on the final plans a week before she disappeared.
• 10:41
  Speaker 6: Contractors will start construction a few weeks now. There's supposed
• 10:44
  Speaker 6: to be a great day in our lives, laying the cornerstone. Yes,
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: I understand, great day, Robert A. Marston building. It's funny thing,
• 10:54
  Speaker 6: isn't it.
• 10:54
  Speaker 7: Officers?
• 10:54
  Speaker 5: How's that?
• 10:56
  Speaker 6: Nothing's very great unless there's somebody to share it with.
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: Before we left the office of doctor Robert Marston, we
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: talked with his secretary, Miss Leonora Dexter. She confirmed the
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: doctor's statement that on the night after Louise Marston had
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: disappeared from the country club, she had seen both Missus
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: Marston and her stepfather at the city's international airport. She
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: said she did not follow them, she had no idea
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: of their destination. Doctor Marston gave us the letters his
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: wife had written him during her absence, and also his
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: wife's signed receipt for the eighty thousand dollars with a bond.
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: Each of the letters was postmarked New York, and the
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: dates on them ranged from December fifteenth to March twenty fourth.
• 11:36
  Speaker 7: Oben and I drove back to the.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: Office and put in a call to the home of
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: the missing woman's stepfather, of mister William House. Then we
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: went down the hall to the office of Don Meyer,
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: our handwriting expert. We gave him the letters which supposedly
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: had been written by Missus Marston from New York, along
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: with a signed receipt for the bonds, and various other
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: exemplars of her handwriting which we had obtained from her Bank.
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: Two fifty pm, the missing woman's step father, William House,
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: arrived at the office. He was a tall, graying man, dignified,
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: well dressed.
• 12:05
  Speaker 8: It's about time the police started looking into this thing.
• 12:07
  Speaker 8: How long does a person have to be missing before
• 12:09
  Speaker 8: there's an investigation?
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: The missing report was only files yesterday. Mister hass If
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: you knew your stepdaughter was gone, why didn't you report him?
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: I've had private detectives working on this for a month,
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: had him checking everything about the case. How much luck
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: have they had, frankly, not much. I still got him
• 12:23
  Speaker 5: working on it well.
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: Getting back to what we have on hand, mister House,
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: how about this statement of doctor Marston's secretary. She says,
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: as she saw you with missus Marston at the International
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: airport the night after she disappeared.
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: It's a lie.
• 12:34
  Speaker 8: I haven't been near that airport in six months. It's
• 12:36
  Speaker 8: a lie, and I can prove it. I don't know
• 12:39
  Speaker 8: what Marston's up to, but he isn't going to get
• 12:41
  Speaker 8: away with it.
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: What do you mean with that?
• 12:43
  Speaker 8: I think he's murdered Louise. I think he killed her
• 12:46
  Speaker 8: and buried her somewhere. That's my honest opinion. You sound
• 12:50
  Speaker 8: sure of it. I am sure of it. I knew
• 12:52
  Speaker 8: Marsden for what he was the day I met him.
• 12:55
  Speaker 8: He's a fortunate hunt, a pure and simple He's after
• 12:57
  Speaker 8: Louise's money and nothing's going to stop him.
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: Nothing has stopped him.
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: Well, I was under the impression that doctor Marston was
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: wealthy before he married your stepdaughter, isn't it right?
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: Certainly not.
• 13:07
  Speaker 8: He was just another poor dentist with a lot of
• 13:09
  Speaker 8: big ideas. All this talk about putting up a building
• 13:12
  Speaker 8: naming it after himself while Louise fought him on that constantly.
• 13:16
  Speaker 8: He's some kind of crazy egotist.
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: What about the eighty thousand dollars in bonds he says
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: he signed over to missus Marston if he told you
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: that he's a bigger lad than I thought.
• 13:25
  Speaker 7: Well, he gave us a receipt for the bonds that
• 13:26
  Speaker 7: was signed by his wife. Can you accounfid them?
• 13:29
  Speaker 8: Frankly, No, Either he got her signature on it by
• 13:32
  Speaker 8: some kind of trick or he forged it. I'm sure
• 13:34
  Speaker 8: he never had that much money. Those bards belonged to Louise.
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: What about the letters doctor Marston got from his wife?
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: You think they were forged to I'm positive they were,
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: don't you see, Officer, it's the perfect cover up for it.
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: Well, one way or the other, it's not going to
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: take us long to find out the truth. Our handwriting
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: man's checking over the letters in the bond receipt. Now,
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: can you fill us in at all on doctor Marston's background,
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: mister House.
• 13:56
  Speaker 8: Only since he's been connected with the family since he
• 13:59
  Speaker 8: married Louise.
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: Say, would you give me a cigarette? Please? I went
• 14:02
  Speaker 5: off and left mine at home. Oh, sure, here you are,
• 14:05
  Speaker 5: Thank you, thank you.
• 14:11
  Speaker 8: I can't tell you how I feel about it, Officer.
• 14:13
  Speaker 8: I'm afraid of that man. I'm definitely afraid of him.
• 14:17
  Speaker 8: I know he's done something terrible to Louise.
• 14:19
  Speaker 7: Well, how can you be so sure of it, mister House?
• 14:21
  Speaker 7: You must have some basis for your opinion.
• 14:23
  Speaker 8: I just know, that's all, Sergeant. If Louise had just
• 14:27
  Speaker 8: disappeared and there wasn't any question of money involved, I
• 14:29
  Speaker 8: wouldn't be so anxious about it. But eighty thousand dollars
• 14:33
  Speaker 8: worth of bonds, that'd be enough to tempt Marston to
• 14:36
  Speaker 8: murder his own mother.
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: You don't know him like I do. Well, what do
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: you know about him? There? There must be something concrete.
• 14:43
  Speaker 8: I can tell you this much, Officer Marston's a man
• 14:46
  Speaker 8: who is capable of murder. Now, I'm a sensible man.
• 14:50
  Speaker 8: I don't walk up and down the street.
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: Looking for murderers.
• 14:53
  Speaker 8: But I know when we've got one in the family
• 14:56
  Speaker 8: that much, you've got to believe, you will believe it.
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: Ru excuse me, just some an object then, pomic side Friday,
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah done, all right, callum right, thank you? Not well,
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: that was our handwriting man, mister House. Yeah, he just
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: finished checking the writing in those letters and on the receipt.
• 15:17
  Speaker 7: For the bonds. But to say full dreis no, sir.
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: They're genuine, every one of them. As soon as William
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: House left the office, Ben and I began an immediate
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: check of his whereabouts.
• 15:29
  Speaker 7: The night after his stepdaughter.
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: Louise Marston had disappeared, we talked to his friends and associates,
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: members of the staff at the club where he lived.
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: We found a dozen people who backed up houses claim
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: that he was nowhere in the vicinity of the airport.
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: The night after Missus Marston dropped from sight, we went
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: back and talked with doctor Marston Secretary Leonor Dexter. She
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: still insisted that she had actually seen house at the
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: airport with the missing woman. Doctor Marston and the stepfather
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: continued to accuse each other of murder. At our request,
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: WEP efforts were made by the New York Police to
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: locate missus Marston.
• 16:03
  Speaker 7: No luck.
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: We checked and rechecked with the maid at the home
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: of the missing woman. All she could tell us was
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: that Louise Marston never returned home after leaving the country club,
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: and also that she'd been wearing a fur coat and
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: an expensive diamond solitaire ring. A week passed and then
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: two weeks. We stayed on it, but there wasn't much progress.
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: The case of Louise Marston came to a virtual standstill Wednesday,
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: February twenty fourth, Hi.
• 16:27
  Speaker 7: Jill, good morning. Anything new.
• 16:29
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think we got to break the Marston caze.
• 16:31
  Speaker 5: Oh what do you got made out of doctor Marston's home?
• 16:34
  Speaker 5: She called first thing this morning, said doctor Marston had
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: a little dinner party out there last night.
• 16:39
  Speaker 7: What about it.
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: One of the people there was Marston's secretary, that Leonor Dexter. Oh, yeah,
• 16:44
  Speaker 5: she was wearing a large diamond ring. You know. Maide
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: got a good look at the ring, says it the
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: same one missus Marston was wearing the night she disappeared.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: You are listening to drag Met authentic cases from official
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: police files.
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: Wednesday, February twenty fourth, nine fifteen am, Ben and I
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: drove out to the home of doctor Robert Marston and
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: talked to the maid. She told us that on the
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: previous evening, the doctor had a small dinner party, and
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: that one of the guests was the doctor's secretary, Leonor Dexter.
• 17:29
  Speaker 7: The maid told us that she'd gotten a close look at.
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: The diamond ring that miss Dexter was wearing, and that
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: she was sure it was the same ring that the
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: doctor's wife, Louise Marston, had been wearing the night she disappeared.
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: Ten twenty am, we left the Marston house and headed
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: downtown to the doctor's office in the Medical Dental Building.
• 17:46
  Speaker 7: The office was closed and locked.
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: We got back in the car and drove out Sunset
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: Boulevard to Lenar Dexter's home address. We found the secretary
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: having breakfast alone in her two room apartment. She explained
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: that on Wednesdays the doctor never opened his office. Before
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: we questioned her about the dinner party at the doctor's
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: home the night before we asked her about the diamond
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: ring that she wore at the party.
• 18:07
  Speaker 7: She became confused and hesitant.
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: And what about it, Miss Dexter? Was that your diamond
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: ring and were wearing at the dinner party?
• 18:13
  Speaker 9: No, Sergeant, it wasn't. I guess it belongs to doctor Marston,
• 18:16
  Speaker 9: either him or his wife.
• 18:17
  Speaker 7: Or did he give it to you as a present?
• 18:19
  Speaker 9: No? You see, I guess the doctor had a few
• 18:22
  Speaker 9: cocktails before dinner, maybe one too many. He went upstairs
• 18:26
  Speaker 9: and came down with a ring. He insisted I wear it.
• 18:29
  Speaker 9: He was very insistent. I didn't want to make a scene,
• 18:32
  Speaker 9: so I put the ring on. I gave it back
• 18:35
  Speaker 9: to the doctor just before we left the house. My
• 18:37
  Speaker 9: boyfriend was with me at the party and we had
• 18:39
  Speaker 9: a terrible argument over it. He's very jealous.
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: Tell me, Miss Dexter, did doctor Marston have any special
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: reason for wanting you to wear the ring?
• 18:46
  Speaker 9: No? Just said he liked me, that I was pretty
• 18:49
  Speaker 9: and or how to have pretty things. My boyfriend didn't
• 18:51
  Speaker 9: like him at all.
• 18:52
  Speaker 7: We had you ever seen that particular diamond ring, miss Dexter,
• 18:54
  Speaker 7: I mean before last night.
• 18:56
  Speaker 9: I don't know, Sergeant Knight.
• 18:58
  Speaker 5: I think so.
• 18:59
  Speaker 9: I'm not sure.
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: And where do you think you saw the ring before.
• 19:03
  Speaker 9: Missus Marston. I think I saw her wearing it once.
• 19:06
  Speaker 7: Was she wearing it the night you were supposed to
• 19:08
  Speaker 7: have seen her at the airport?
• 19:09
  Speaker 9: I don't know what you mean. I didn't notice the ring,
• 19:12
  Speaker 9: but I saw Missus Marsham at the airport.
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: I'd like to have you think this thing out for yourself,
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: Miss Dexter. Missus Marston's been gone for almost three months now.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: There's a strong possibility that she might have been murdered.
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: You can make up your own mind about it. Miss
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: If you're not involved in that disappearance, i'd advise you
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: to tell us the truth might save you a lot
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: of trouble.
• 19:31
  Speaker 7: Miss Dexter.
• 19:34
  Speaker 9: You mean about my seeing mister House at the airport
• 19:36
  Speaker 9: with a doctor's wife, but I after she.
• 19:38
  Speaker 7: Disappeared, Yes, ma'am, that's right. You sure that's the truth.
• 19:41
  Speaker 9: I didn't want to get involved, Sergeant. I didn't want
• 19:43
  Speaker 9: any part of it.
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: You mean you didn't see Missus Marston and stepfather at
• 19:47
  Speaker 5: the airport that night that you made it all up.
• 19:49
  Speaker 9: I didn't make it up, Sergeant, I swear I didn't.
• 19:52
  Speaker 9: He told me what to say he said to do
• 19:53
  Speaker 9: it as a favor for him.
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: Who's that miss Dr Marston. We continued to question the
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: secretary of Leonora Dexter. She confessed that Doctor Marston had
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: directed her to tell the story about seeing Louise Marston
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: and her stepfather William House at the International Airport.
• 20:10
  Speaker 7: It was all a complete lie.
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: She said that Marston had explained that the whole thing
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: was just a practical joke, that it didn't mean anything.
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: When Missus Marston was officially reported missing, she thought of
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: going to the police, but Marston had frightened her out
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: of taking any such action. The only other suspicious thing
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: she could recall about Missus Marston's disappearance was a conversation
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: between the doctor and his architect, mister Harold Whitmore. He
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: was the architect who had planned and designed the projected
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: Robert A. Marston building for a professional men all. The
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: secretary told us the doctor's conversation with the architect had
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: taken place about a month before Missus Marston's disappearance, and
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: that she had heard the doctor mentioned to the architect
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: something about New York and a packet of letters. Leonara
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: Dexter was taken downtown where she gave us a complete
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: signed statement. Ben and I got in the car and
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: drove to the offices of architect Harold Whitmore over on
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: South Hope Street. He was a tall, florid faced man,
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: very cooperative.
• 21:02
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I remember that conversation with doctor Marston. He gave
• 21:04
  Speaker 8: me a bunch of letters, at least a couple of dozen. Anyway,
• 21:07
  Speaker 8: they were addressed to the doctor and his little boy, Stanley.
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: What do you want you to do with the letters,
• 21:11
  Speaker 5: mister Whitmore.
• 21:12
  Speaker 8: He asked me if I had any friends in New York,
• 21:13
  Speaker 8: and I said I did. Then he said he was
• 21:15
  Speaker 8: playing some kind of practical joke on his wife and son.
• 21:18
  Speaker 8: He gave me the letters and asked me if i'd
• 21:20
  Speaker 8: send them to a friend in New York and have
• 21:22
  Speaker 8: him mail them back one of a time.
• 21:23
  Speaker 7: You agreed to do that.
• 21:24
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that's right.
• 21:26
  Speaker 8: Letters were all sealed and stamped, all in order the
• 21:28
  Speaker 8: way they were supposed to be mailed. I just sent
• 21:30
  Speaker 8: him back to this friend of mine. Bob Rogers in
• 21:32
  Speaker 8: New York forgot all about it.
• 21:34
  Speaker 7: Mister Whitmore. How long have you known him, doctor Marston?
• 21:37
  Speaker 7: Very long?
• 21:37
  Speaker 8: No, not too long, only in a business way. He
• 21:40
  Speaker 8: wants to put up this office building of his, and
• 21:42
  Speaker 8: I'm handling the job for him. He's sure nuts on
• 21:44
  Speaker 8: the subject, can't wait till we start construction on the job.
• 21:47
  Speaker 8: I think his life depended on it. You know much
• 21:49
  Speaker 8: about his personal life. What'd your first meet him?
• 21:52
  Speaker 5: See?
• 21:53
  Speaker 6: I think he was around October last year. He and
• 21:55
  Speaker 6: missus Marston were building a summer place down at Maliboun
• 21:58
  Speaker 6: and I helped out with the plans. The doctor was
• 22:00
  Speaker 6: always hanging around there, helping out with the work whenever
• 22:03
  Speaker 6: he could.
• 22:03
  Speaker 7: Uh huh. And that's the only previous contact that you
• 22:06
  Speaker 7: had with him.
• 22:07
  Speaker 5: That's about all ye know.
• 22:08
  Speaker 7: Building the beach house.
• 22:09
  Speaker 6: Doctor Marston thought he had some new ideas about building
• 22:12
  Speaker 6: a new type basement in the place. So yeah, not
• 22:14
  Speaker 6: a bad job on a seller for an amateur. He
• 22:17
  Speaker 6: used enough cement on it to think a battleship.
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: Just second or swit one? Did doctor Marston cement in
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: the basement while the house is being built?
• 22:23
  Speaker 7: Is that?
• 22:24
  Speaker 5: No?
• 22:24
  Speaker 7: No?
• 22:25
  Speaker 6: About a couple of months later, around the middle of December,
• 22:27
  Speaker 6: I think, do.
• 22:28
  Speaker 7: You remember the date exactly when he did the cement work?
• 22:31
  Speaker 8: Not exactly about twelfth, the thirteenth of December. I think yeah,
• 22:36
  Speaker 8: right after his wife disappeared.
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: Wednesday, February twenty fourth, one thirty pm, Ben and I
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: picked up doctor Robert Marston and brought him downtown to
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: the office. We questioned him for an hour and informed
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: him of the evidence against him. Despite the statement of
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: architect Harold Whitmore, the doctor insisted he was innocent of
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: any crime connected with the disappearance of his wife. We
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: contacted the New York Police Department and asked them to
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: check on architect Whitmore's friend, Robert E.
• 23:02
  Speaker 7: Rogers.
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: A special detail of men was dispatched to the summer
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: home at Malibu to see what they could find. Half
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: an hour later, doctor Robert Marston was placed in the
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: car and Ben and I drove.
• 23:12
  Speaker 7: Him to the Malibu home.
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: We continued question him during the drive, but he refused
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: to make a statement of any kind. On our arrival
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: at the beach cottage, we found Marston's young son, Stanley,
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: together with a maid and the family butler. We took
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: doctor Marston downstairs to the basement. The man had a
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: large section of the cement flooring ripped up. They were
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: digging in the room up above. We could hear young
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: Stanley Marston playing on a toy harmonica.
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: I'd like to know something, sergeant, just for my information, sir,
• 23:47
  Speaker 6: why do you think I'd kill my wife?
• 23:49
  Speaker 7: Why do you think I'd do such a thing.
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: We're not sure yet if you did, killer?
• 23:52
  Speaker 6: And why do you have these men doing this digging
• 23:55
  Speaker 6: up the whole basement? Why do you think I killed her?
• 24:00
  Speaker 6: Find anything? You might as well tell them to stop
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: now they won't find anything. I explained everything to you.
• 24:05
  Speaker 6: Why can't you take my word for it?
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: You still haven't explained about those letters, Why you had
• 24:09
  Speaker 4: them sent to New York? Why I had the mail
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: back here one at a time.
• 24:13
  Speaker 7: Got nothing to do with it. Why can't you believe me?
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: Your wife didn't disappear without a reason. Doctor, We'd like
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: to know what the reason is.
• 24:19
  Speaker 7: I told you, I told you a dozen times over.
• 24:21
  Speaker 7: You know what happened.
• 24:22
  Speaker 6: We were at the country club, Louise and I. She
• 24:24
  Speaker 6: was drinking a lot.
• 24:24
  Speaker 7: I told her to lay off. He had an argument.
• 24:27
  Speaker 7: She walked out, that's all.
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: She walked out.
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: I didn't see her anymore.
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: Yeah, so we'll have it all worked out. Don't worry
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: about it.
• 24:34
  Speaker 6: Why can't that maid look after the boy up there
• 24:37
  Speaker 6: making all that noise, and why can't you take him
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: out somewhere down to the beach?
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: Yeah, oh yeah, right.
• 24:49
  Speaker 6: Charging. What do you want me to say?
• 24:52
  Speaker 7: What's that?
• 24:53
  Speaker 6: They've found her? You know that Louise right where I
• 24:57
  Speaker 6: buried her. What do you want me to say? Oh,
• 24:59
  Speaker 6: that's up to you.
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 25:01
  Speaker 7: She wouldn't understand, would you, Sergeant?
• 25:03
  Speaker 6: The only thing I ever wanted in my life, she
• 25:05
  Speaker 6: wouldn't let me have it, the building, Robert A. Marston
• 25:08
  Speaker 6: building for a professional man.
• 25:11
  Speaker 7: You mean your wife wouldn't give me the money for it.
• 25:12
  Speaker 7: That's why your quarreled, is that it.
• 25:14
  Speaker 6: I tried to tell her one fight after another. She
• 25:17
  Speaker 6: didn't know how much it meant to me.
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: And that's why you killed her.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: Huh.
• 25:20
  Speaker 6: I followed her outside the country club that night, drove
• 25:22
  Speaker 6: her to my office. She was pretty drunk.
• 25:23
  Speaker 7: Uh huh.
• 25:25
  Speaker 6: We pretended she was on a trip to New York.
• 25:27
  Speaker 6: I had to write the letters, had her sign the
• 25:28
  Speaker 6: receipt for the bonds. Wasn't hard to do. How'd you
• 25:31
  Speaker 6: kill her? Put my hands around her throat, didn't stop
• 25:34
  Speaker 6: until she was dead.
• 25:36
  Speaker 5: Joe, yell, men, thank Fornor. You ready to go? Doctor.
• 25:40
  Speaker 6: All right, there's a dream of a lifetime, Sergeant. I
• 25:44
  Speaker 6: almost had it.
• 25:46
  Speaker 7: The Robbert A.
• 25:47
  Speaker 6: Marston Building, the finest in the city. Yeah, you want
• 25:50
  Speaker 6: to come upstairs, doctor, will get your coat. You'll try
• 25:53
  Speaker 6: to understand, won't you. I wanted something that would last,
• 25:57
  Speaker 6: my own building, my name on it, something you'd remember. Well,
• 26:03
  Speaker 6: that's the reason I killed Louise. She didn't want me
• 26:06
  Speaker 6: to have it, my own building, something that would last,
• 26:10
  Speaker 6: make the people remember.
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: Well, you made a doctor. Who I worry. You don't
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: need a building. I'll remember you.
• 26:16
  Speaker 6: Ah.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true, only the
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: names were changed to protect the innocent.
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: On June third, trial was held in Superior Court, Apartment
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: eighty seven, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: In a moment the results of that trial, Robert Alexander
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: Marston was charged with murder in the first degree. Ten
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: days after his trial opened in Superior Court, the suspect
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: took his own life in his jail cell by hanging.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: You have just heard Dragnet a series of authentic cases
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: from official filets. Technical advice comes from the Office of
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: Chief of Police wh Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: Stay tuned for Counterspy next over most NBC stations.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Welcome back, a good episode and as this is it broadways,
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: my bait herb Butterfield wasn't the murderer. I do wonder
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: if people are a little less game today in helping
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: with practical jokes because the secretary, the architect, and the
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: architect's friend all got involved in a murder plot. That way,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: there's a lesson in that, all right, well, listener comments
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: and feedback, and we got a recent comment regarding this
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: story in its first plane many years back, Mechanics sixty
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: six 't eight two rides. I guess psycho paths with
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: money need to see their names on buildings. And then
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: kind of an interesting one that sent me down a
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: fun rabbit trail. And this comes from one of our
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: compilations which had some of our season four episodes in it,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: which featured the Clipper clipper Craft run of Sherlock Holmes,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: ryans Arise. I wonder if Friday and Romero ever shot
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: for clipper Craft close well. I kind of wondered whether,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: based on the ads they were in East Coast only brand,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: but that doesn't appear to be the case, so they
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: might have particularly given the price point of the suits
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: and how thrifty that you had to be on the
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: lapd but they would not have been the target audience.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: Clipper Craft in the nineteen fifties pitched their suits to
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: college men, which neither Friday in Ramera were. There's a
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: really fascinating article about how clipper Craft appealed very specifically
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: to Ivy League college men and they had a lot
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: of interesting things, including ads with men with tigers heads
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: wearing the suits. They even had a mister Keene suit,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: but it was not named after the famous investigator, the
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: Tracer of Lost Persons. And I will try to remember
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: to add a link to the article on ivydash style
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: dot com from twenty nineteen. Great little blog entry. They
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: are so much fun stuff, all right. Well, now it
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: is time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: and I want to thank Rosa, Patreon supporter since January
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty, currently supporting the podcast at the Detective Sergeant
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: level of seven dollars and fourteen cents or more per month.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your support, Rosa, and that
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: please follow us using your favorite podcast software, and if
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: you're enjoying the podcast on YouTube, be sure to lock
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: the video, subscribe to the channel, and mark the notification bell.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: We will be back next Thursday with another episode of Dragnat.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: But join us back here tomorrow for yours truly, Johnny
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: dollar Ware.
• 30:38
  Speaker 10: Great, I can't help you much, Johnny. Joe went with
• 30:41
  Speaker 10: apparently told you all there is to tell about it.
• 30:43
  Speaker 6: You were out looking for a taxi at the time,
• 30:45
  Speaker 6: went with, got slut.
• 30:46
  Speaker 10: That's right. I feel sorry for Joe. That was a
• 30:50
  Speaker 10: lot of diamond to lose.
• 30:52
  Speaker 7: Must be quite a storm.
• 30:54
  Speaker 10: I would you go for those things? I know, I
• 30:57
  Speaker 10: guess some people really have a thing about dim.
• 31:00
  Speaker 7: But don't you huh?
• 31:02
  Speaker 10: All right, just happens. There are a couple of things
• 31:05
  Speaker 10: I prefer like.
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: What like money and mink?
• 31:09
  Speaker 7: Huh?
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: But now according to your fiance you.
• 31:12
  Speaker 10: Wait a minute, according to my what your fiance?
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: What was it?
• 31:19
  Speaker 5: Johnny?
• 31:19
  Speaker 10: That may be his idea, but it's not mine.
• 31:22
  Speaker 7: Well, you're not engaged.
• 31:24
  Speaker 10: It's been very nice to me, and I like him,
• 31:27
  Speaker 10: but we're just friends a far as I'm concerned. Oh yeah,
• 31:31
  Speaker 10: I'm afraid I'm not the engaged type. Johnny I've tried
• 31:36
  Speaker 10: it once or twice, but it didn't work. Seems to
• 31:38
  Speaker 10: interfere with my hobby.
• 31:40
  Speaker 7: Your hobby.
• 31:41
  Speaker 10: Yeah, having fun.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: send your comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net,
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check us
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com, slash Great Detectives from Boise, Idaho.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham signing off.