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Transcript

Dragnet: The Big Impression (EP5094) · The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio)

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: THE END.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnet.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: But first, I want.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: To encourage you, if you're enjoying the podcast, please follow
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: us using your favorite podcast software. Today's program is brought
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: to you in part by the financial support of our listeners.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: You can support the show on a one-time basis by
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: mailing a donation to Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, that's
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho, 83715. And you can also
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for as little
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: as $ 2 per month at patreon.greatdetectives.net. And I want to
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: thank our latest Patreon supporter, Brian, supporting the show at
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: the Shamus level of $ 4 or more per month. Thanks
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: so much for your support, Brian. Now, from August the 7th, 1952,
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: here is The Big Impressions.
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a robbery detail. An
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: elderly man has been beaten and robbed of a fortune
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: in unsaid diamonds. The thief has made good his escape.
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: Your job, find him.
• 2:16
  Speaker 5: Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. For the
• 2:20
  Speaker 5: next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
• 2:24
  Speaker 5: you will travel step by step on the side of
• 2:26
  Speaker 5: the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files.
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: the story of your police force in action.
• 2:41
  Speaker 6: It was Tuesday, July 12th. It was hot in Los Angeles.
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: We were working the day watch out of robbery detail.
• 2:46
  Speaker 6: My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Didion. My
• 2:48
  Speaker 6: name's Friday. It was 10.46 a.m. when we got to
• 2:51
  Speaker 6: the Morgan Hotel. Room 922. Yes? Police officer, sir.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: My name's Friday. This is my partner, Frank Smith.
• 2:58
  Speaker 7: Oh, yes, sir.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I'm the manager, Arnold Jackson.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir. We're here regarding the robbery, sir.
• 3:03
  Speaker 8: Oh, Mr.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: Ruman's in their bedroom.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: He's lying down. Has there been a radio unit here, Mr.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: Jackson? Yes, they just went down the hall. The victim
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: in here, sir? Yes, that's right. Thank you very much, Mr. Jackson.
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: Sure.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: Mr. Ruman? Yes? My name's Friday, sir. This is my partner,
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: Frank Smith, Central Robbery.
• 3:18
  Speaker 7: Oh, yes.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Captain Friday? No, sir. It's Sergeant, Mr.
• 3:21
  Speaker 8: Ruman.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: Sergeant? I thought, sure, they'd send a captain. Well, now,
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: if you can just tell us what happened here. Well,
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: I brought the.
• 3:26
  Speaker 8: Stones up here to show him and his father. We
• 3:28
  Speaker 8: made an appointment. He hit me, took everything.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: How much was it, sir?
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: Can you tell us?
• 3:32
  Speaker 8: Everything there was, finest collection, best stones, took my sample
• 3:36
  Speaker 8: case and everything.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: What did the case look like, sir?
• 3:38
  Speaker 8: Just a plain sample case, this high, about this wide.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: So you had to make it about 14 by 18,
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: is that right? Black, black, black leather, plain sample case.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Any identifying marks, initials, anything like that?
• 3:49
  Speaker 8: No, just a plain black leather case. I don't care
• 3:51
  Speaker 8: about the bag, it's the diamonds. I couldn't come close
• 3:54
  Speaker 8: to their value. Maybe $ 100, 000, maybe more.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: Now, you say you made an appointment with him. Who
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: is the man, sir? Fred Roberts.
• 4:00
  Speaker 8: I met him about three weeks ago at my club,
• 4:02
  Speaker 8: having lunch with a friend, another journalist, and he introduced us.
• 4:05
  Speaker 8: We hit it off right away. He seemed to be
• 4:07
  Speaker 8: a real nice fellow. I can't understand it.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Fred Roberts. What are you describing for us, sir?
• 4:11
  Speaker 8: I'd say he's about 28 or 30. Could say he's
• 4:14
  Speaker 8: a nice-looking fellow. Sure wore nice clothes. Looked like a
• 4:16
  Speaker 8: real businessman. Always carried a briefcase, no.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: About how tall would you say he was? Tall? Well,
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: I'm 5'6. He's about 3 inches taller. I'd say he's
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: about 5'9.
• 4:27
  Speaker 8: Not too heavy.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: Medium build. About your size. How about his hair, sir?
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: What color was that? Do you remember? Brown.
• 4:33
  Speaker 8: Straight brown hair. Might have had a part. I never
• 4:35
  Speaker 8: noticed it. He had brown eyes, too. Shouldn't be any problem.
• 4:38
  Speaker 8: People in the hotel must know him. These are his rooms.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: I'll call the office and have them get out a
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: broadcast on the description.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: All right, fine. You want to check with the other fellows,
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: see if they've come up with anything? I'll stay here
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: with Mr. Ruman.
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Frank. You'll have no trouble identifying the man, will you, Mr. Ruman? No, sir.
• 4:51
  Speaker 8: I know him. Those eyes never forget him.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: I should have known from the start. Sir?
• 4:55
  Speaker 8: His eyes are shifty, little bitty things set close together.
• 4:59
  Speaker 8: I should have known not to trust him with eyes
• 5:01
  Speaker 8: like that.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: Now, you say you met this man about three weeks ago,
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: is that right?
• 5:04
  Speaker 8: Well, this Roberts fellow told me that he was down
• 5:06
  Speaker 8: here from San Francisco. Said he was going into the
• 5:09
  Speaker 8: diamond business. Said he was down there here, rather, to
• 5:12
  Speaker 8: buy stock. That he'd heard that I could lay my
• 5:14
  Speaker 8: hands on some fine stones and he wanted to see
• 5:17
  Speaker 8: what I had to offer, I say.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: Did he say that he was going to buy the
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: stones himself?
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: Oh, no.
• 5:22
  Speaker 8: He told me that his father was putting up the money.
• 5:24
  Speaker 8: He said that his father was coming down here today
• 5:26
  Speaker 8: and that if he like the merchandise, we could make
• 5:28
  Speaker 8: a deal. Funny thing, though, I should have known right off.
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: What's that, sir?
• 5:32
  Speaker 8: Well, when I came up here this afternoon and showed
• 5:33
  Speaker 8: him the stones I'd brought, he didn't know the good
• 5:35
  Speaker 8: from the bad.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: What, sir?
• 5:37
  Speaker 8: Well, in almost any collection, there are bound to be
• 5:39
  Speaker 8: a few stones that aren't absolutely perfect. They look all right,
• 5:42
  Speaker 8: but there may be a small flaw someplace inside the stone. Naturally,
• 5:46
  Speaker 8: their value isn't the highest.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: I see, and this Roberts didn't know the difference.
• 5:49
  Speaker 8: No, but I should have known anyway. Those eyes, you know,
• 5:52
  Speaker 8: the meanest eyes I ever saw and so close together.
• 5:54
  Speaker 6: Well, was there anything unusual that you might have noticed
• 5:56
  Speaker 6: about Roberts? Anything about his speech, his manner, anything at
• 5:58
  Speaker 6: all that might help us identify him?
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: No, just like I told you. Seemed nice enough. Well,
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: did he give you any indication that there might be
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: something wrong? Not at all. Of course, I wondered about it.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: He's not knowing much about diamonds, but I figured that
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: if he was.
• 6:10
  Speaker 8: willing to pay what I wanted, I didn't have to
• 6:11
  Speaker 8: concern myself with what he was going to do with
• 6:13
  Speaker 8: the stones.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: Well, Mr. Roman, I wonder if we could start from
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: the beginning, exactly what happened here. He knocked me out. No, sir,
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: I mean what led up to his hitting it. Oh,
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry.
• 6:23
  Speaker 8: Well, as I said, he told me to bring the
• 6:24
  Speaker 8: stones up here for his father to see. I did,
• 6:27
  Speaker 8: and then we waited for the father to show up.
• 6:29
  Speaker 8: We were over there by the window looking at the stones.
• 6:31
  Speaker 8: You know, they look better than some of them.
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: Well, when we finished, he.
• 6:34
  Speaker 8: Said something about his father never being on time. I
• 6:37
  Speaker 8: turned to look out the window, and that's when he
• 6:39
  Speaker 8: hit me, right here on the back of my head.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: Can you see it? Yes, sir, I can. Is it bleeding?
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: Don't lie to me. I'm not afraid. Can you see
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: any blood there? No, sir, there's quite a bump on
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: the back there. Are you sure? Yes, sir. You're telling
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: me the truth? Yes, sir, there's no blood. Joe? Yeah, Frank.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: See you in a minute?
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: Sure. Excuse me a minute, Mr.
• 6:53
  Speaker 9: Roman.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: Sure, that's all right. Yeah, Frank.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Call the office. They put out the description. The area's
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: being covered. Leighton Prince been called?
• 7:00
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: How's Roman getting along?
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: Well, he's got quite an ache in his head, but
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: he seems to be okay.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: The manager says he's called the house. Doctors should be
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: here right away.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: Sergeant? Yes, sir. Have you caught him yet, Roberts? No, sir,
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: not yet.
• 7:10
  Speaker 6: As soon as the doctor looks at you, sir, we'd
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: like you to go down to police headquarters with us,
• 7:13
  Speaker 6: if you would.
• 7:13
  Speaker 7: Of course.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: But you shouldn't have too much trouble catching him, not
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: with those eyes. Real little beady. Yes, sir. Well, what
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: do you want me to do at police headquarters, Sergeant? Well,
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: we want to take a full statement, have you look
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: at some pictures, if you would. With you two?
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Anything wrong?
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: Oh, no, no.
• 7:27
  Speaker 8: But you'd figure with all those diamonds gone and that
• 7:29
  Speaker 8: fellow hitting me and all, it just seems that they
• 7:31
  Speaker 8: could have done better.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: Well, how's that, Mr.
• 7:33
  Speaker 8: Roman? Seemed he couldn't have sent a captain.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: 11.15 a.m.
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: Leighton Prince arrived and went over the rooms. Frank and
• 7:42
  Speaker 6: I were unable to find the instrument Roman had been
• 7:45
  Speaker 6: struck with. Checking with the desk clerk and the elevator operator,
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: we were able to get a composite description of Fred Roberts.
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: It tallied closely with the one given us by Ruman.
• 7:54
  Speaker 6: The desk clerk told us that Roberts had checked into
• 7:56
  Speaker 6: the hotel that morning. We obtained a copy of the
• 7:58
  Speaker 6: hotel registration card carrying Roberts' signature for handwriting analysis. The
• 8:03
  Speaker 6: immediate area was thoroughly searched. The suspect had made good
• 8:05
  Speaker 6: his escape. We contacted the victim's office and asked for
• 8:09
  Speaker 6: a full inventory of the stolen diamonds. They were unable
• 8:11
  Speaker 6: to give us a complete inventory at the time, but
• 8:14
  Speaker 6: advised us that the loss would run well over $ 150, 000.
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: 11.57 a.m.
• 8:20
  Speaker 6: After the hotel doctor had examined Ruman and said his
• 8:23
  Speaker 6: wounds were superficial, we drove down to the city hall.
• 8:25
  Speaker 6: While Ruman was looking at the mug books, Frank and
• 8:27
  Speaker 6: I checked the name Fred Roberts and his description through
• 8:30
  Speaker 6: R & I. We were unable to find a record
• 8:32
  Speaker 6: on him. We contacted the stats office and requested a
• 8:35
  Speaker 6: run on the M.O. Local and all points bulletins were
• 8:38
  Speaker 6: gotten out on the suspect. After looking through the mug books,
• 8:41
  Speaker 6: Ruman was unable to come up with an identification. Further
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: interrogation of the victim failed to turn up any new evidence.
• 8:47
  Speaker 6: The information furnished by the stats office and other contacts
• 8:50
  Speaker 6: yielded nothing. The investigation continued. Three weeks went by. Tuesday,
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: August 2nd, 8.05 a.m. I checked into the office.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Joe?
• 8:59
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: You're late.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: I've been waiting for you.
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: It's only been five minutes. Well, there's a lot to
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: do here, you know. You're in a good mood. What's
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: the problem?
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: It's the in-laws again. I didn't sleep a wink last night. Oh,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: what happened?
• 9:08
  Speaker 9: That brother-in-law, a real wise guy, knows how to do
• 9:10
  Speaker 9: everything better than anybody else. Nothing he doesn't know.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: Well, look, Frank, I'm on your side. What's the bet here?
• 9:15
  Speaker 9: Remember how I told you about this place out in
• 9:17
  Speaker 9: the valley where the steaks are so good?
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a butcher shop, wasn't it?
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right.
• 9:20
  Speaker 9: Well, I stopped by last night and I got six
• 9:22
  Speaker 9: of the biggest steaks I could find.
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: Real beauties. Filets. Yeah?
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: I figured on a barbecue, you know, out in the backyards.
• 9:29
  Speaker 9: Anyway, I get the charcoal out and the kindling and
• 9:31
  Speaker 9: all the stuff.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Right away, my brother-in-law says I'm doing it wrong.
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: Why didn't you tell him?
• 9:35
  Speaker 7: The wife.
• 9:35
  Speaker 9: She's got to hear how they barbecue back in Sioux Falls.
• 9:38
  Speaker 9: So the brother-in-law throws out all the stuff I'd done,
• 9:40
  Speaker 9: and he starts all over. It took him three hours.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: Now what happened?
• 9:43
  Speaker 9: Well, he never got the fire started. By the time
• 9:45
  Speaker 9: he let me get at it, it was too dark
• 9:47
  Speaker 9: to do anything. He ended up in the kitchen with waffles.
• 9:49
  Speaker 9: He had indigestion all night.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Well, that's the way it goes, don't it? I suppose so.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Sorry I jumped on you.
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: That's all right. I don't much care for waffles for
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: dinner myself. I get it, Frank. Robbery Friday. Yes, sir. Mm-hmm.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: What was that address again? Okay, yes, sir. We'll check
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: it right away.
• 10:05
  Speaker 8: Right.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: Anything?
• 10:07
  Speaker 6: One of our contacts is a rumble down at Jay's
• 10:09
  Speaker 6: down in South Main. Guy's letting it get around that
• 10:11
  Speaker 6: he's got some loose diamonds for sale.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: You say when they could be bought?
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, tonight.
• 10:15
  Speaker 8: All right.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: 8.14 a.m.
• 10:20
  Speaker 6: We signed out and drove over to Jay's bar. We
• 10:22
  Speaker 6: met with our informant. The buy was to take place
• 10:24
  Speaker 6: in the bar at 8.30 that night. He gave us
• 10:27
  Speaker 6: a description of the man who was selling the stones.
• 10:29
  Speaker 6: We checked back into the office and filled Captain Didion
• 10:31
  Speaker 6: in on the latest developments of the case. The plan
• 10:33
  Speaker 6: was laid out that Frank and I would stake out
• 10:35
  Speaker 6: inside the bar. Four other men were assigned to cover
• 10:38
  Speaker 6: the outside of the meeting place. They would be able
• 10:40
  Speaker 6: to be in constant communication with each other through walkie-talkie equipment.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: 7.43 p.m.
• 10:46
  Speaker 6: Frank and I took up our positions at the bar.
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: The other men were at their assigned positions.
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: We waited.
• 10:50
  Speaker 6: 8.19 p.m. Three men came in and took a table
• 10:54
  Speaker 6: at the rear of the place. They ordered drinks and
• 10:57
  Speaker 6: sat down and talked. None of them matched the description
• 11:00
  Speaker 6: our informant had given us.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: 8.34 p.m. Joe? Yeah?
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Just came in. Fits the description pretty closely.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: He's heading back there. Looks like he's one of the
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: three guys we've been waiting for, doesn't he?
• 11:11
  Speaker 10: Yeah.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: What was that he took out of his pocket? I
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: don't know.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Can't hear a thing from here either. Looks like it's
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: going to get louder, doesn't it?
• 11:18
  Speaker 9: All right, that's fine with me. I didn't ask you
• 11:20
  Speaker 9: to buy the stuff. You can see for yourself it's good.
• 11:21
  Speaker 9: The price is right. If you don't want to buy it,
• 11:23
  Speaker 9: then you're wasting my time.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: Lousy, chintzy deal. You get me here and then you
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: pull a deal like this? As far as I'm concerned,
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: the buy's off.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: Nobody sent for you.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: Forget it. Let's see him. He's got the stones. Let's
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: take him, Frank.
• 11:32
  Speaker 10: Let's go.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Get the bag.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: All right, hold it up, police officers. Watch it, Joe.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Hey, hey, hey, hey.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: All right, now stand right where you are. Keep your
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: hands out in the open. You want to shake them down, Frank?
• 11:41
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Stand still, you.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: What are you tagging us for? Just having a drink?
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: What are you trying to do?
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: They're clean, Joe.
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: My boy got away. They'll pick him up outside. Look,
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: what do you want us for? Just sitting here having
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: a drink.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: What are you trying to prove?
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: Skip it, mister. You're selling us nothing here. I don't
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: know what you're talking about.
• 11:53
  Speaker 9: Frank?
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, hold still. Here's my cuffs. All right, let's go.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: I'll check outside, see if they got the other one. Look,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: you don't need these handcuffs. I'm not going anyplace. I
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: got nothing to hide.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: What's this all about? Save it, mister. Save what? Come
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: in here to have a couple of drinks. We're not
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: bothering anybody.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Just a quiet drink.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: You guys jump on us.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: What's the pitch, anyway?
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: Let's stop playing games here. There was a diamond buy tonight,
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: and you were in on it.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Diamonds?
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: Are you kidding? Here, look at me.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Do I look like the kind of a guy who
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: can afford diamonds?
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: Not only that, but who buys diamonds in a bar? Now, look,
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: let's get this thing squared away.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Herman and Stromwell got the other one, said they'd take
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: him up to the office.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Anything on him?
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: No, dropped it while they were chasing him.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: What's that?
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: A bag of unset diamonds.
• 12:33
  Speaker 6: The three suspects we'd apprehended inside the bar were questioned.
• 12:36
  Speaker 6: After a brief interrogation, the suspects admitted that they had
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: gone to the bar for the purpose of buying diamonds.
• 12:41
  Speaker 6: They explained that it was their impression that the stones
• 12:43
  Speaker 6: had been smuggled into the country. The three men were
• 12:46
  Speaker 6: booked in on suspicion of robbery pending further investigation. The
• 12:49
  Speaker 6: fourth man, the one who was in possession of the diamonds,
• 12:52
  Speaker 6: was identified as Larry Fry. We checked him through R
• 12:55
  Speaker 6: & I and found that he had a previous record
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: of four arrests receiving stolen property dating back to 1946.
• 13:01
  Speaker 6: Frank and I took the suspect to the interrogation room.
• 13:04
  Speaker 6: He told us that he'd found the diamonds in a
• 13:06
  Speaker 6: back alley. The interrogation continued, but we were unable to
• 13:09
  Speaker 6: change the suspect's story. A special show-up was arranged for Mr. Ruman,
• 13:13
  Speaker 6: the victim in the jewel robbery. After looking at the
• 13:16
  Speaker 6: suspect closely, he stated positively that this was not the
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: man who had held him up. However, examination showed that
• 13:22
  Speaker 6: the stones found were part of the diamonds taken in
• 13:25
  Speaker 6: the robbery.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: The suspect was booked at the city jail.
• 13:28
  Speaker 6: A check of his residence and other leads failed to
• 13:30
  Speaker 6: turn up any additional information. Wednesday, August 3rd, 1240 a.m.
• 13:35
  Speaker 6: We had Fry brought from his cell. All right, sit down, Fry.
• 13:39
  Speaker 9: All right.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: Don't you guys ever get tired of trying? What do
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: you mean, Fry?
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: Questions. Don't you guys ever get tired? You getting tired?
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah, a little.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: Then why don't you save us all a lot of
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: trouble and tell us what you know?
• 13:50
  Speaker 9: I don't know what you're after. Believe me, if I
• 13:52
  Speaker 9: knew what you wanted, I'd try to help. Suppose we
• 13:53
  Speaker 9: start again.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: Anything you want. I got nothing but time. Where'd you
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: get the diamonds? I found them. Where? In an alley.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: What alley? I don't remember. You find 20,000 unset diamonds
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: in an alley? You don't remember which alley? That's right.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: I don't remember which alley. There's a lot of alleys
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: in L.A.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Now with $ 20, 000 in diamonds laying around.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: True. Then why don't you tell us where you found
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: the diamonds? I told you, in an alley. What were
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: you doing at Jay's place? Having a drink, that against
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: the law? No, but trying to sell stolen diamonds is.
• 14:14
  Speaker 9: All right, you called it. I was there to sell diamonds,
• 14:16
  Speaker 9: but I didn't know they were stolen. I tried to
• 14:18
  Speaker 9: sell them, just trying to make a buck. Everybody's got
• 14:20
  Speaker 9: to live. I told you, now leave me alone. I
• 14:22
  Speaker 9: got enough trouble in this can with this lousy chow
• 14:24
  Speaker 9: they throw at you.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: I don't feel so good, huh? Let me go back
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: to my cell and lay down. Oh, kid, you guys
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: ever eaten this jail food? It's terrible. I've eaten it.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: It's not too bad.
• 14:32
  Speaker 9: You got a stomach made out of solid brass. Like
• 14:34
  Speaker 9: to have the bromo concession around here. Look, I really
• 14:37
  Speaker 9: wish I could help you guys, but, honest, there's nothing
• 14:39
  Speaker 9: to tell. I found the diamonds in an alley. Sure,
• 14:41
  Speaker 9: I'd try to sell them, but that's it. Now, you
• 14:43
  Speaker 9: guys know if there's anything I could do.
• 14:44
  Speaker 6: All right, now, you come off it, mister. You better
• 14:45
  Speaker 6: get this story straight. We're through playing with you. Maybe
• 14:47
  Speaker 6: you don't know how you stand.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: I'll fill you in.
• 14:49
  Speaker 6: A man's slugged, and $ 150, 000 in diamonds are stolen from him.
• 14:52
  Speaker 6: Part of those diamonds turn up in your pocket. You
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: say you found them. I can't buy that, and I
• 14:55
  Speaker 6: don't think anyone else will. You come in here playing
• 14:57
  Speaker 6: like a lily, clean and white. Well, your record doesn't
• 14:58
  Speaker 6: make it that easy to buy.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: That's how you stand, mister. The whole thing's right in
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: your lap. It fits you like a new suit. Now,
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: it's up to you.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: Is that the way it is?
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: You call it.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: No other way?
• 15:06
  Speaker 9: None.
• 15:08
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 15:09
  Speaker 9: Well, if I could only get some decent food under
• 15:11
  Speaker 9: my belt and a little fresh air, I might be
• 15:13
  Speaker 9: able to give you guys the answers.
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: You are listening to Dragnet. Authentic stories of your police
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: force in action.
• 15:28
  Speaker 10: You are listening to Dragnet.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: We continued to interrogate Fry.
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: From the evasive answers he gave us, it looked as
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: if he was lying about his part in the robbery.
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: When an interrogation seems to.
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: Bog down, a working detective usually tries to find some
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: subject with which to draw the suspect out, some weak
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: point in his makeup. Maybe it's his parents, his wife,
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: or his children. It might be the fear of having
• 15:55
  Speaker 6: loved ones find out about the crime he's accused of committing.
• 15:59
  Speaker 6: In Fry's case, questions about his family failed to produce
• 16:02
  Speaker 6: any results.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: We tried other subjects, religion, baseball, golf, fishing. None of
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: them seemed to bring him out of his shell.
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: Occasionally, during the interrogation, he'd refer to the jail food,
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: comparing it to the other food he'd eaten. As the
• 16:15
  Speaker 6: questioning went on, we found that Fry considered himself a gourmet,
• 16:19
  Speaker 6: talking about the dishes that he'd eaten.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: At various restaurants.
• 16:22
  Speaker 6: We tried to lead the questioning around to the diamond theft,
• 16:25
  Speaker 6: but he constantly brought the conversation back to food. Fry
• 16:29
  Speaker 6: had presented us with a possible wedge, and we decided
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: to use it. We signed him out of the city
• 16:33
  Speaker 6: jail and drove him down to Phillips Restaurant for dinner.
• 16:36
  Speaker 6: When the waiter brought the menu, Fry didn't read it.
• 16:39
  Speaker 6: He ordered soup, salad, and two French dip sandwiches. As
• 16:42
  Speaker 6: he ate, we tried to get him to talk, but
• 16:43
  Speaker 6: he refused, saying that he wanted to finish his dinner first.
• 16:47
  Speaker 6: Frank and I each had a sandwich and some coffee.
• 16:49
  Speaker 6: Fry continued to eat. He ordered two more sandwiches. Finally,
• 16:53
  Speaker 6: he pushed his chair back and said that he'd had enough.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: Now for some dessert, huh? Dessert?
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a meal's not complete without dessert.
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: I figured I'd have some apple pie a la mode
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: and some coffee. How is the coffee here? It's good. Now,
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: how about the information?
• 17:05
  Speaker 9: You know, Friday, that's why you can eat that jail food.
• 17:06
  Speaker 9: You don't take care of your stomach. You gotta learn
• 17:08
  Speaker 9: to relax after a meal. Relax, you'll live longer.
• 17:10
  Speaker 6: Well, what was that song and dance you gave us
• 17:12
  Speaker 6: about telling us all about it, just a gimmick to
• 17:13
  Speaker 6: get a free meal?
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: I told you, take it easy. I'll give you the
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: story after dessert.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: All right, Frank.
• 17:18
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: Get the pie and coffee. Now, the waiter seems to
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: be busy here.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: You wanted that a la mode, Frank?
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: That's right, a la mode. No cream in the coffee.
• 17:24
  Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: Nice place here. They do a good business. They've been
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: here a long time. Best French dip sandwiches I've ever eaten.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: Nice and lean, aren't they?
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they put out a good meal. Here's your client coffee.
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: Thanks. Three spoons of sugar? That's right. Coffee sure smells good. Hey,
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: it tastes good, too. All right, let's get on to business, Fry. Now,
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: what about the diamonds? Where'd you get them?
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: From a guy named Joe. What's his last name?
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: Never heard of him.
• 17:49
  Speaker 6: He gave you the diamonds to sell. You don't know
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: his last name?
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Where'd you pick up the diamonds?
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: Didn't. Joe came by my house and left them.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: What's this Joe like? Oh, medium height, about 32, medium weight.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: How about his coloring?
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: Medium. He's a real ordinary looking fella.
• 18:01
  Speaker 9: Where'd he say he got the diamonds? He brought them
• 18:02
  Speaker 9: out from the east with him. Didn't tell me where
• 18:04
  Speaker 9: he got them back there. I think he's done time someplace.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Why'd you say that? I just figured it. The way
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: he talks, the way he handles himself. Got the marks.
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: You'd know him if you saw him again? Oh, sure.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: Think you could point him out to us? Have you
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: got him? No, but if he's done time, there's a
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: mug of them. Figures we got it. Want to look
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: through the mug books? Sure. How did this Joe get
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: in touch with you? Called the house. Told me what
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: time he'd be there. When do you usually call? Most
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: any time.
• 18:25
  Speaker 9: I know what you're figuring, but it won't work. This
• 18:26
  Speaker 9: whole thing's been in the papers. He won't call me now.
• 18:28
  Speaker 9: Too smart for that.
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: He won't show.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: How about the diamonds? Don't you think he'll be sorry
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: about you being picked up?
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: So he's sorry. He's got no beef. He's still got
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: 130 grand in stones. He's got no worries. Say, how
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: about some more coffee? No, you've had it for the night, Fry.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: Let's go. Oh, thanks for the meal. Sure appreciate it.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Jail food was killing me.
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: You know, a good meal always makes me sleepy. Sure
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: getting late. Hey, let's knock it off for tonight, huh, fellas?
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: I'm bushed. No, let's look through the mug books and
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: we can call it a night. Honest, fellas, I'm so
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: tired I can hardly see straight. Feeling like this, I
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: couldn't be sure. All right, Fry, we'll take you back
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: and we'll see you the first thing in the morning
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: so we can get started. Okay. Say, I was just wondering. Yeah?
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: You think you could work out something for breakfast?
• 19:01
  Speaker 10: 2.30 a.m.
• 19:06
  Speaker 6: After returning the suspect to the city jail, Frank and
• 19:08
  Speaker 6: I went back to the office.
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: We were certain that Fry.
• 19:11
  Speaker 6: Was in some way implicated in the diamond theft, but
• 19:14
  Speaker 6: we didn't know just how he fit in.
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: Frank and I signed out and went home to get
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: some sleep. 4.45 a.m.
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: I got a call from the business office that a
• 19:22
  Speaker 6: man who identified himself as Joe Ashton had been picked
• 19:25
  Speaker 6: up on a drunk charge. When arrested, he was carrying
• 19:27
  Speaker 6: a black leather case, similar to the one taken in
• 19:30
  Speaker 6: the robbery, containing a large quantity of unset diamonds. The
• 19:34
  Speaker 6: man was belligerent, and other than his name, he refused
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: to tell the arresting officers anything. I called Frank and
• 19:40
  Speaker 6: picked him up on the way into the office. When
• 19:43
  Speaker 6: we arrived at the city hall, the suspect had sobered
• 19:45
  Speaker 6: up considerably and With a little questioning, he identified himself as.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: A jewelry salesman... from Oakland, California.
• 19:51
  Speaker 6: We contacted his employer in Oakland and received an identification
• 19:55
  Speaker 6: on him. Further investigation showed that Ashton was in legal
• 19:58
  Speaker 6: possession of the diamond. During investigations, false leads are constantly
• 20:02
  Speaker 6: turned up and although circumstances may tend to discount them,
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: each one has to be.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: Thoroughly checked out. 7.45 a.m.
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: Frank and I had breakfast at Johnny Cokin's and at 8.32
• 20:13
  Speaker 6: we signed Fry out of the city jail for interrogation.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: You had breakfast yet, Friday? Yeah, I just finished. Too bad.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: How about you, Smith? Yeah. What'd you have?
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: Waffles. Yeah, I sure like some hot waffles.
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: I didn't eat here. Figure you guys might take me
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: out again. What are you trying to prove, Fry? Now
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: let's go over and look at those mug books, huh? Okay.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: Hands behind you. Oh, now look. Behind you.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: All right, let's go.
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: All right, in the elevator. I'll get it, Frank.
• 20:41
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Sure, a nice day, but it's warm out. It's gonna be.
• 20:52
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Go ahead.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: Sure you guys don't want a cup of coffee? No,
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: I told you we'd eat. Right in the back, Fry. Sure. Say,
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: I sure appreciated that meal last night. That's good. We
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: going to City Hall? Yeah, that's right. That way you
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: keep the mug books?
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: Hey, no kidding, Friday. I gotta have some coffee. My
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: stomach's growling. All right, Fry.
• 21:34
  Speaker 6: We'll get you some coffee. You know, that whole bit
• 21:36
  Speaker 6: about Joe doesn't ring. I'm afraid we can't buy it.
• 21:38
  Speaker 9: Okay, so it's a phony story, but I'll give you
• 21:40
  Speaker 9: the right one.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Where'd you get the diamonds? From a guy out in
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: the valley. Where in the valley? Out at the Astor Studios.
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: Got a picture lot?
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: Frank, let's head out the freeway. We're going out the valley. Hey,
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: wait a minute. I don't want to see him.
• 21:50
  Speaker 9: He'll blow his top if he finds out I told you.
• 21:51
  Speaker 9: This guy's crazy, a real nut. You better drop me
• 21:54
  Speaker 9: back at the jail.
• 21:54
  Speaker 7: I'll wait.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: How do we know this isn't another stall? It isn't.
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: You'll see.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: What's this guy's name, this friend of yours? He's no friend,
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: just a guy I met. Had a business deal. What's
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: his name? Calls himself Fred Roberts.
• 22:07
  Speaker 6: We took Friday breakfast and then we returned him to
• 22:09
  Speaker 6: the city jail. We went back to the city hall
• 22:11
  Speaker 6: and rechecked the name Fred Roberts through R & I.
• 22:14
  Speaker 6: There was no record. Those with similar names were checked.
• 22:18
  Speaker 6: None of them matched the description of the suspect. 11.20 a.m.,
• 22:22
  Speaker 6: Frank and I headed for the San Fernando Valley. Astor
• 22:24
  Speaker 6: Studios was one of the older lots in town. It
• 22:26
  Speaker 6: had been years since they'd made a picture of their own.
• 22:29
  Speaker 6: Most of their business now was in renting stage space
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: to television companies.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: Frank and I checked at the gate and we.
• 22:34
  Speaker 6: Were sent up to personnel. The company records on Roberts
• 22:37
  Speaker 6: showed that he'd been at the studio for four years in.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: The property department.
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: According to the girl in the personnel office, Roberts was
• 22:43
  Speaker 6: highly regarded by his employers and fellow workers. She told
• 22:46
  Speaker 6: us that we could find him in the prop building
• 22:47
  Speaker 6: on the back lot. Frank and I started back to
• 22:50
  Speaker 6: see him.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: That must be it back there, the big building with
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: all the windows?
• 22:56
  Speaker 8: Yep.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: Sure a lot going on, huh?
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, TV's using a lot of movies, I guess. Most
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: of the good stuff's on film, isn't it?
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: I suppose so.
• 23:02
  Speaker 9: About all Elizabeth likes to watch is the wrestling matches
• 23:05
  Speaker 9: with those real old movies.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: I don't get to see much of the new stuff.
• 23:08
  Speaker 9: If she's not looking at some show that's 20 years old,
• 23:10
  Speaker 9: the kids are watching.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: A puppet show.
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: Well, you need two sets, then.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: I've been thinking about that show.
• 23:13
  Speaker 9: Not that I don't like wrestling, but I'd like to
• 23:15
  Speaker 9: see the ball game once in a while and those
• 23:17
  Speaker 9: news forum shows.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: You know, keep up with what's going on in the world.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah. This looks like it here, huh?
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: That's him back there with the spray gun, isn't it?
• 23:24
  Speaker 8: Yep. Hey, Mr. Roberts?
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 23:27
  Speaker 8: Roberts?
• 23:27
  Speaker 9: Yeah?
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: I'd like to talk to you, sir.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Just a minute. I've got to hit this before it drags.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: All right, sir.
• 23:32
  Speaker 9: All right, now what can I do for you?
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: Police officers, Mr.
• 23:39
  Speaker 8: Roberts.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: What? Wait a minute. Who'd you say you were? Police officers.
• 23:46
  Speaker 9: Oh, I'm sorry I caused you this trouble. I thought
• 23:49
  Speaker 9: at first you were bill collectors coming in here like
• 23:51
  Speaker 9: you're dead and all that. You can understand that, can't you?
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: I've had a little trouble lately. I didn't mean to
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: cause a fuss.
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, sure. We'd like to talk to you downtown.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: What about?
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: Some diamonds that were stolen.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: Certainly, I'll go with you, but why me? What makes
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: you think I had anything to do with it? Just routine, Mr. Roberts.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Your name came up and we have to check it out.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: More than glad to help.
• 24:08
  Speaker 9: I hope you don't think that I was trying to
• 24:10
  Speaker 9: run away from you before. It was just that I
• 24:11
  Speaker 9: thought you were someone else.
• 24:12
  Speaker 8: All right, Mr.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: Roberts. You want to get your coat? Sure.
• 24:15
  Speaker 9: I'll have to call the front office and tell them
• 24:17
  Speaker 9: where I'm going. I'm the only one here today.
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: No, we'll call them on the way out. Fine.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: A lot of work.
• 24:23
  Speaker 9: Hope this won't take long. Should I tape my car?
• 24:28
  Speaker 9: I wouldn't like to trouble you to bring me back.
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: No trouble, Mr.
• 24:31
  Speaker 7: Roberts.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Sure a nice day, isn't it? Good for exteriors. Exteriors? Yeah,
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: you know, outdoor shots. Good light.
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Run into a lot of trouble if you haven't got
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: good light. Like to take a look around?
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: No, I'm afraid we haven't got the time, Mr.
• 24:48
  Speaker 7: Roberts.
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: All right, here's your car.
• 24:52
  Speaker 8: Say.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: I don't want to tell you fellas your business, but
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: can't we talk here? I really shouldn't leave.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: No, I'm afraid not, Mr. Roberts. There's someone downtown we
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: want you to meet.
• 24:59
  Speaker 8: Oh?
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, a man by the name of Ruman, Sam Ruman.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: You said Ruman?
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: No use trying to kid you then.
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: Sir?
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: About the diamond.
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: No, I'm afraid not.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: How'd you find him?
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: That's not important. Do you have the rest of the stone?
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: Most of them.
• 25:16
  Speaker 9: Some of them are up in San Francisco. I can
• 25:18
  Speaker 9: give you the name of the man who has them.
• 25:20
  Speaker 9: He picked up some of them.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: I read about it in the paper. How about the
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: rest of them?
• 25:23
  Speaker 9: Buried them on a golf course south of here.
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: I can show you the place.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: You want to get them now? Yeah, we'd like to, yeah. Well,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: go over the pass and into La Brea. Straight out
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: La Brea. I'll tell you where to turn.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: Fry, he the one that told you?
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: You planned the robbery yourself, did you?
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I had to raise money. Funny.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: What's that?
• 25:41
  Speaker 9: You work in pictures in any job and people think
• 25:43
  Speaker 9: you make a lot of money.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: It's not true. It's like any other job. Good living,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: but you don't make as much as people think you do.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: That's why I did it.
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 25:51
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: Planned the thing for a long time. Figured every angle.
• 25:56
  Speaker 9: Be able to pay off my car, all my bills.
• 25:59
  Speaker 9: There was no gag about me thinking you were bill collectors.
• 26:02
  Speaker 9: You've been trying to find my car for the past month.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: Gonna take it away.
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: You know how it is.
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, sure.
• 26:09
  Speaker 9: All my life I've been working, working to make something
• 26:11
  Speaker 9: out of myself. Everybody in this town seems to do okay. Money,
• 26:15
  Speaker 9: big home, a car. Twelve years I've been working as
• 26:18
  Speaker 9: a prop man.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Twelve years. Got tired of waiting? I wanted all those things.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: I figured I waited long enough, you know?
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 26:26
  Speaker 9: What's wrong with trying to build some kind of a
• 26:28
  Speaker 9: future for yourself? I just wanted a future, that's all.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you got one.
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: The story you have just heard was true. The names
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: were changed to protect the innocent.
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: On November 15th, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 89,
• 26:47
  Speaker 5: City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: In a moment, the results of that trial.
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: Fred Roberts was tried and convicted of robbery in the
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: second degree. Robbery in the second degree is punishable by
• 27:06
  Speaker 5: imprisonment in the state penitentiary or in the county jail.
• 27:09
  Speaker 5: He is now serving his time in the county jail.
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: Ladies and gentlemen, at this very moment in Korea, the
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: lives of soldiers wounded in battle today are being saved by.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: Transfusions of blood and blood plasma.
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: You can give these men the gift of life, a
• 27:25
  Speaker 4: pint of your blood. The Department of Defense is calling
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: for all Americans to roll up their sleeves. There is
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: no substitute for blood. The need is urgent. The need
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: is now. Call your local Red Cross chapter or blood
• 27:39
  Speaker 4: donor center for an appointment.
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: And please keep it.
• 27:41
  Speaker 10: © BF-WATCH TV 2021.
• 28:17
  Speaker 9: Friday, hear the Mario Lanza Show on NBC.
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: Welcome back. Okay, I think that the criminal who managed
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: to get meals out of Joe Friday for his cooperation
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: was pretty smart. I think it was unethical to give
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: him a false lead. Ethics isn't really the name of
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: the game with criminals. It's a case where, particularly if
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: you love good food, you're not going to really get
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: any for all the years you're going to be in jail, so...
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: it's understandable to try and see if you can finagle
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: a good meal or two before you go away. I
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: think Vic Perron's portrayal of Frank Smith is an interesting one.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: I don't think it actually matched well with Jack Webb,
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: and particularly not in the way that both Ben Alexander
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: and later Harry Morgan would in bringing humor into these films.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: often very serious episodes, but it even lacks kind of
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: the charm of Barton Yarborough's complaining. It does sometimes bring
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: up relatable subjects, particularly the second segment where he is
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: annoyed about the way television is going in his house.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: And it's one of those bits that's really a bright
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: cultural artifact. And like a lot of radio at the
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: time that talked about television, it referenced wrestling as being
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: something on television. And this was really true of the
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: Los Angeles market where wrestling on television was a big
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: deal because stations needed local programming and it was cheap
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: to make. And the nature of the sport made it
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: so that you know you just had a small ring
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: that you're kind of watching on TV there's no ball
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: moving around and your focal point is going to be
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: these two wrestlers and this got wrestling having a real
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: moment and this is of course before the stuff that
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: a lot of people grew up with as wrestling you
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: know has become more and more and more and more
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: But it was so popular that you could watch it
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: every single night. And you had each of the five
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: stations in Los Angeles covering wrestling. It also mentioned old movies,
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: which would have been relatively cheap to license, as opposed
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: to newer films. Now, in some ways, the lack of
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: newer films may have allowed... series, particularly the Lux Radio Theater,
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: to continue on a few more years, although the decline
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: in interest in radio would lead to the conclusion of
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: that series as well. And there were attempts to do
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: something similar to what Lux had done on radio with
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: the Lux Video Theater and the 20th Century Fox Hour.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: But adapting great Hollywood films on a TV budget only
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: had so much appeal. And then there were puppet shows,
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: which probably worked for television for the same reason that
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: wrestling did. And keep in mind that TV was a
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: very anticipated invention. People have been talking about it since
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: the 30s, and there were some experimental broadcasts from that
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: era even done. There's a lot of anticipation and Frank
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: Smith is looking at knots of wrestling, 20-year-old movies and
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: puppet shows and thinking, you know, maybe I'll need another set.
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: Most likely, you know, that would be something you'd have
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: to finance because TVs were still quite expensive at the time.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: But it's interesting to see how quickly inflicting family desires
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: over television became such a big issue and how soon
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: the desire for multiple TVs actually began, particularly in such
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: a middle-class profession as a police detective. We'll listen to
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: her comments and feedback now, and we have some comments
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: on the big trio. We start on Patreon with Jeff,
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: who writes, Very interesting that Jack Webb rated this episode
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: as his favorite. I can see why, and appreciate your
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: observation about the more mundane but essential side of police work.
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: My car was totaled this summer by someone making an
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: illegal U-turn. I was very grateful for the police handling
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: the aftermath that day. Fortunately, no one was injured. Well,
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: those are always scary situations to be in. Then we
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: have a comment over on Spotify from a random Spotify
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: user who writes, This episode was so heavy. I almost
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: needed a spotter to listen to it. Could have used
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: some Barton Yarborough to tell a mother-in-law story. Yeah, definitely
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: a very heavy story. I think they tried to lighten
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: it a little bit with the middle story, but those...
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: First and last really do hit quite hard. And then
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: comments on YouTube. James had been waiting for this all
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: morning to hear this episode. And then Jeffrey writes, I
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: wasn't aware of a law that says you have to
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: stick your arm out of the window to signal a turn.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: I know you're supposed to signal if riding a bike.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: Was it different back then or does it vary by state?
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: I started driving in the early 80s. I too was
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: surprised when Friday mentioned a wife beater. Take care. Well,
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: thanks so much. And yes, Jeff, it was different. While
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: you had a history of turn signals being introduced as
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: devices on cars, it wasn't really standard equipment till the
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: mid 1950s. And in most states, if you look at
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: the state law regarding turn signals, they are required on
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: cars after a certain manufacture date, usually the mid-1950s. Before then,
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: you would use hand signals in traffic. So yeah, the
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: law has changed since then. The only times I've used
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: hand signals while driving is once when I realized my
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: signal lights were out, I used and signals for my
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: turns until I could get it to the shop, which
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: I did as quickly as possible. But thanks so much.
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: Great question. Now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: of the day. Thank you to Daniel, Patreon supporter since
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: August 2024, currently supporting the podcast at the Detective Sergeant
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: level of $ 7. 14 or more per month. Thanks so much
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: for your support, Daniel, and that will do it for today.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: favorite podcast software, and be sure to rate and review
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: the podcast wherever you download it from. We'll be back
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: next Thursday with another episode of Dragnet, but join us
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: back here tomorrow for yours truly, Johnny Dollar, where.
• 36:10
  Speaker 5: Well, sir.
• 36:11
  Speaker 9: It seems to me it would have been a lot
• 36:12
  Speaker 9: safer to have an armored car deliver that money to
• 36:15
  Speaker 9: the depository of some bank.
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: During the day.
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: Maybe several times a day.
• 36:19
  Speaker 7: Exactly what John suggested some time ago. I suppose I
• 36:25
  Speaker 7: should have listened to him.
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: Well, go on, sir.
• 36:28
  Speaker 7: Last Saturday, after we closed, things went along quite as usual.
• 36:32
  Speaker 7: That is, until Mr. Ellery in sporting goods, always the
• 36:36
  Speaker 7: last to bring his money to the vault, until he
• 36:39
  Speaker 7: knocked on Harker's door.
• 36:40
  Speaker 4: Well, right on cue.
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: Excuse me.
• 36:43
  Speaker 7: Come in.
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 36:45
  Speaker 8: McNair, I.
• 36:46
  Speaker 7: John, John, come in, please. I want you to meet Mr.
• 36:51
  Speaker 7: Johnny Dollar. This is John Harker.
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: Dollar, hiya.
• 36:55
  Speaker 7: Dollar represents the insurance companies we trust will make good
• 36:58
  Speaker 7: on our loss.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Well, I certainly hope you can make more progress than
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: the police have, Mr.
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: Dollar.
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime,
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: send your comments to box13 at greatdetectives.net. Follow us on
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: Twitter at Radio Detectives and check us out on Instagram. instagram.com
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: slash greatgatactives. From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham,
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: signing off.