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Dragnet: The Big Grab (1950) (EP4472) · The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio)

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Voice Adaho. This is your host, Adam Graham. If you
• 0:38
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  Speaker 1: of our ongoing Patreon supporters for as little last two
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  Speaker 1: dollars per month by going to Patreon dot Great Detectives
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: dot net. Well, now it is time for this week's
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: episode of Dragnet. The original air day June twenty ninth,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: nineteen fifty and the title is The Big Grab.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: The story you are about to hear is true, only
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: the names have been changed to protect the innocent Dragnet.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: You're a detective Sergeant You're assigned to homicide detail. A
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: woman has disappeared, taken from her home by a man
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: posing as a police officer.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: Your job finder.
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: Dragnet the documented drama of an actual triumph. While the
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: you will travel step by step on the side of
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: the law through an actual case transcribed from official police violence,
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: from beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Dragnet is
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: the story of your police force.
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: In action.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: Was Tuesday orful fourth? Was warm in Los Angeles. We're
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: working the night watch out of homicide detail. My partner's
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: Ben Romero. The boss' is Thad Brown, Chief of Detectives.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: My name is Friday. It was ten minutes past six
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: pm when I got to the basement of the City Hall.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: Carpools over here, Joe, Hi, Thad Brown will be down
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: in a minute. Captain will follow us out later. Okay,
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: no contact here, Yeah, I'm still waiting. You take care
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: of the local broadcast already going out. They'll put the
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: descriptions on the air every hour. How's luck to you? Now?
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: I don't know nothing more we can do to make
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: a contact. Oh, here's that Brown now you want to
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: squeeze over them? Oh yeah sure, Hi, Jeef, Hi, let's go.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: Might as well take Beverly Boulevard. I bet it's as
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: fast as any.
• 3:51
  Speaker 5: You got the address there Friday.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's six seventeen Paris Avens Halbiaco Park.
• 3:55
  Speaker 5: Who's covering the house now?
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: Rassell Pacelli or staked out in a private garage cross
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: the street from house. Donahan wisemaner on duty inside of
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: the Castle place.
• 4:04
  Speaker 6: A little smoke. Mm nice, I'd mean one little joe. Yeah,
• 4:12
  Speaker 6: but you got the story from them made of the
• 4:13
  Speaker 6: Kestle's house, that right?
• 4:15
  Speaker 5: Check it out.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's telling it straight. If anything
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: anything's wrong, I don't think she's got a hand in it.
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: Hey are a bit no thuh? You get to call
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: about three this afternoon. M two minutes after we went
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: right out and talked the maid. How did she tell her?
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: I said she was fixing dinner about two this afternoon
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: when the doorbell rang. She answered it, and a young
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: man in the gray suit asked for Missus Kestle by name.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: He told the maid it was an emergency. H well,
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: the maid said, Missus Castle came to the door and
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: The man identified himself as a police officer, told missus
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: Kessel her husband had been hurting an accident and she
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: was to come right away.
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: Man show his identification. Maide said no, said miss Kessele
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: just took it for ground.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: He was a coup.
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, go ahead.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: Missus Castle got her coat and left with them man.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: About an hour later, her husband, Professor Kessel, got home.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: He wasn't hurt, he hadn't been in an accident. He
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: hadn't seen his wife. And as he heard it from
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: the mag let it happened. He got on the phone, called.
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: That what's the background? The husband?
• 5:10
  Speaker 7: This?
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: Uh, professor Kessel, he was supposed to have quite a name.
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: He's a professor of philosophy out at Simmons College, at
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: a small school out near Glendale.
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah, devout.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: Man, president of one of the local synagogues.
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: Sure about the maid story, huh.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: Sure as we can be. She gave us a good
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: description of the man who picked up in his castle.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: I got it right here. Yeah, yeah.
• 5:32
  Speaker 6: White male American, twenty five to thirty years old, six
• 5:35
  Speaker 6: feet one seventy to eighty pounds, great suit.
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: Bret had boone shoes, but the car he used late
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: monos ever let dark blue white side was that's on
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: the make to dais She didn't notice the last you've
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: been here? Cut over on the westlake. That'll take us
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: past the detail on this professor Kessel. See you've been
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: told what to do. Yeah, he's been briefed. We've had
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: a couple of men with him since this thing broke,
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: taking it pretty hard.
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: How old him? Man is it?
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: Oh? It was late thirties, wouldn't you say?
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: Something pretty close to forty? Nice? When I was quiet?
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: Two kids in the family, just about school age, boy
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: and a girl.
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: It's the next one not to be very s avenue.
• 6:08
  Speaker 8: Yeah, there's a big grayhouse down there.
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: Skare for a white trimp doing part too close to house?
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: I saw of do it right here, don't see?
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: What time you got?
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: Ah, it's good seventeen most dark? Where's the garage?
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: I mean a covering from can you see beyond that
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: light pole?
• 6:28
  Speaker 7: There?
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: The white stucco place or uh next one us? A
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: Kissel home doesn't look very rich. Neither did the Kessels.
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: I don't think they got much money. Hi, donahoe come in?
• 6:55
  Speaker 9: Thought the husband? Yeah, I just got a phone call
• 6:57
  Speaker 9: a couple of minutes ago. I listened on the extension.
• 7:00
  Speaker 9: Who called try to trace it? The guy wouldn't stay
• 7:03
  Speaker 9: on the line longer. What'd you say, Tell the cops
• 7:06
  Speaker 9: to stay away, said it twice. Tell the cops to
• 7:08
  Speaker 9: stay away, said If they don't, he kill her.
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: The Kessel house had already been placed under strict surveillance
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: and the victim's husband instructed not to contact the abductors
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: without knowledge of the police. To the working detective, there's
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: only one rule to go by when the job of
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: solving an abduction is put in his hands. Find the
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: victim as fast as possible, get the victim to safety,
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: then go after the criminal. It's not an easy job.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: The responsibility isn't the light, and the outcome isn't always successful.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: If you press too hard, the abductor gets frightened and
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: kills the victim. If you don't press hard enough, the
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: criminal has more time to work for his payoff and
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: than escape. Somewhere between the two was the right answer,
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: but had to find it. Six thirty pm, special details
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: of men ro ordered out to the bus depots, the
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: railroad terminals, in the airports. Roadblocks were set up at
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: all Mainardory's leading into and out of the city. Every
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: branch post office in Los Angeles was covered to watch
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: for possible ransom notes addressed to Professor Kessel. Six forty pm.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: We met in the Kestle's living room.
• 8:13
  Speaker 10: Gee Wiseman, professors be down in a minute. Says he's
• 8:16
  Speaker 10: sorry to keep you waiting and feeling any better. A
• 8:18
  Speaker 10: little phone call about his wife shook him up a bit.
• 8:22
  Speaker 10: How about those people came in a few minutes ago.
• 8:24
  Speaker 10: Were they relatives? I have a dozen of them. They're
• 8:26
  Speaker 10: waiting back in the kitchen. How they know about was
• 8:28
  Speaker 10: his castle? They didn't. They've been invited to dinner. They
• 8:31
  Speaker 10: didn't know anything was wrong till they got here. Kessel
• 8:34
  Speaker 10: Lastimus stay for the meal. Wants to keep up appearances
• 8:36
  Speaker 10: for the sake of his kids. Doesn't want them to
• 8:38
  Speaker 10: worry about their mother. The dinner that important to him.
• 8:41
  Speaker 10: Tonight's the start of the Pesa and the Jewish religion passover.
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: It's one of the big holidays.
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: When they started off with his dinner tonight, is that
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: the weak Yeah, big dinner they called him say this
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: tonight they have the first say good evening.
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: Sorry to keep you waiting.
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: How are you.
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: Please shuit down.
• 8:59
  Speaker 6: We don't like to trude on your privacy, Professor Kessel,
• 9:01
  Speaker 6: but I think you can see it's necessary.
• 9:03
  Speaker 5: Oh, yes, of course, I'm very grateful. There's anything at
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: all I can do to help.
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: Do you have any idea who might be responsible for
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: abducting your wife?
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: That's what has me so confused.
• 9:14
  Speaker 11: How do you mean, Well, I am sure I have
• 9:18
  Speaker 11: people who don't like me, who don't like us, But
• 9:20
  Speaker 11: someone who would take my wife, who says they'll kill her.
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: No, I don't know who it could be.
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: How about the voice and the telephone, Professor, did you
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: recognize it at all?
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: No, it didn't sound like anyone I knew. He talked
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: so fast I could hardly understand the man.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: Do you think the person who took your wife had
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: some other motive besides holding her for ransom?
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: I can't understand that either.
• 9:42
  Speaker 11: If it's money they want, I go after a teacher's wife,
• 9:45
  Speaker 11: fifteen hundred.
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: Dollars in the bank, that's all I have that in
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: this house. How about your immediate family, Professor.
• 9:51
  Speaker 11: Well, my wife, Ruth, people have quite a bit. I
• 9:56
  Speaker 11: guess you would call them rich, but it's their money,
• 9:58
  Speaker 11: not mine. I can't understand why anyone would do it
• 10:05
  Speaker 11: for Ruth.
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: Anything happened should.
• 10:12
  Speaker 11: Albert, I'm sorry, that's all right, we understand. Yes, Bertha,
• 10:19
  Speaker 11: come in, would you please? Gentlemen, this is my sister Bertha.
• 10:24
  Speaker 11: She's here with her husband for the sailor.
• 10:26
  Speaker 12: How are you, Albert? It's late sundown. It's time to
• 10:30
  Speaker 12: start to kid.
• 10:31
  Speaker 11: Oh, yes, all right, Bertha. You tell everyone to come
• 10:34
  Speaker 11: to the table.
• 10:35
  Speaker 12: I've writing the officers will have the first.
• 10:39
  Speaker 11: Yes, Bertha, please set the places.
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: Say. We don't mean to intrude here. We can wait
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: outside while you have your dinner.
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: Oh no, please, I'd be honest to have you sit
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: at the table with us.
• 10:52
  Speaker 11: No one in the house should be without food tonight,
• 10:54
  Speaker 11: first Sada for passover.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: It's the law.
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: How's that sing? Oh? Excuse me me? The Hebrew law.
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: Would you come this way please?
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: He turned and let us down the hallway into the
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: dining room. A long white cloth covered the table. In
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: the center was a brightly polyshed brass candelabra holding four
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: lighted tapers. There were a few platters of food already
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: set out, and at the head of the table, where
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: Professor Kessel stood and opened prayer Rook in order not
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: to add to the alarm of his two small children
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: at the absence of their mother, Professor Kessel introduced us
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: as friends from Simmons College.
• 11:31
  Speaker 11: Uh, this is mister Brown, mister Friday, mister Wiseman, mister Romero.
• 11:37
  Speaker 12: How do you do?
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: Of course you no sit down? Please sit down?
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: No, smells good?
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you got enough room there, Joe, oh thine,
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: I sink. How does it work? Wiseman? Should we join
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: in the prayers?
• 11:53
  Speaker 5: Not unless you speak hebrewho by Apri.
• 12:01
  Speaker 13: I'll go, friend, I thought, I don't know hell Hano
• 12:06
  Speaker 13: my alarm call m but I'm a mono shine VICI
• 12:12
  Speaker 13: but mis my song vat I don't know yellow hanoimco
• 12:20
  Speaker 13: game was my nameless sin.
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: I am haga my choice.
• 12:23
  Speaker 14: The man here to say, yeah, all.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Right, Freddy talking.
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: This is Lacy. Joe just got a call from the
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: marg Yeah. He brought on the body a few minutes ago.
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: They checked the description. I think it's missus Kessel.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: I went back into the dining room and told Chief
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: Brown about the car. He told Professor Kessel. He said
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: he'd finished as quickly as possible, so it's not too
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: I'm the children and then go with us to the
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: morn to check the identity of the body. The prayers
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: continued along with the dinner.
• 13:06
  Speaker 15: Hell lot more on your dare follow son a Baro
• 13:10
  Speaker 15: Demitri called die Vigo, called a shata hoo hoo shoon
• 13:19
  Speaker 15: Barbara this royal a shot off de shoon barber and
• 13:23
  Speaker 15: a fire him.
• 13:27
  Speaker 16: John, Yes, Papa monish donor halala mikoll hallay los m
• 13:36
  Speaker 16: halday los anu o clean, hame too masore l Lahas said,
• 13:44
  Speaker 16: kulo maso.
• 13:49
  Speaker 17: Clean.
• 13:50
  Speaker 12: Sure you're up cold, Papa.
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: And wasn't wise man? What was the boy saying?
• 14:02
  Speaker 10: It's part of the ceremony During the meal, He's supposed
• 14:04
  Speaker 10: to ask his father certain questions about the passover, and
• 14:06
  Speaker 10: then the father answered him, I guess it was too
• 14:08
  Speaker 10: much for Kessel.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: F broke you mun Would the boy ask him? Why
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: is this night different from many other knight seven p
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: thirty pm. Sergeants Wiseman and Donnah hosted on duty at
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: the house while Chief Brown Ben and I drove Professor
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: Kessel to the County Morgue. On the way, we called
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: in and checked with Captain Steed of homicide. He told
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: us there's been no reports on missus Kessel. Seven forty
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: three pm, Ben and I took Kessel to the basement
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: of the Hall of Justice, County Morgue.
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: This way, professor, Oh, yes, are you sure you feel
• 14:52
  Speaker 5: up to him? Thank you?
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: Hope you all right?
• 14:56
  Speaker 5: Cold in here? Yes, sir, I thought, it's back here. Okay, Archie.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: This, Professor, cassil Archie, I do this way?
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: Change tell number five. I called over as soon as
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: they brought it in.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you.
• 15:11
  Speaker 8: Found the body of the Avenue nineteen, the river bed
• 15:13
  Speaker 8: crossing the auto camp.
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: No identification. No here, we are.
• 15:20
  Speaker 18: All right, professor, good god, thank god, Professor. No, it's
• 15:51
  Speaker 18: not my wife.
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: It seemed as if both the victim and whoever had
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: taken her advanced completely. At eleven thirty Captain Steve, Ben
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: and I went across the street for a cup of
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: coffee and a Frida egg sandwich. We got back to
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: the office at ten minutes to midnight. Still no word.
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: At two am, Ben and I drove back to the
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: Kestle house to relieve Donna, how and Wiseman. We stood
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: our watch in the living room. In the bedroom directly above,
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: we could hear Professor Kessel pacing the floor most of
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: the night. At five am, Captain Steed called. He told
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: us a letter addressed to the Professor who had been
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: reported at the Arcade Post Office. As soon as the
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: outside of the envelope had been photographed and checked for Prince,
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: it would be brought out for Professor Kessel to ope. Yeah,
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: I'll get it.
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: Chief. Good morning, Highley, Hi Joe.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: In here. Did you lift anything up the envelope?
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: Lee?
• 16:56
  Speaker 19: Nothing we can use No, we might have him all
• 16:58
  Speaker 19: up with the letter.
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: You brought. The letter, it's right here. Professor Kessel would
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: like you to stand by while we open it. This
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: is Lieutenant Jones, my crime left. You check the note
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: for fingerprints. Oh, yes, I can get you a letter open.
• 17:12
  Speaker 5: I think this one over here.
• 17:13
  Speaker 20: Yeah, that's all right. I could give it my pocket.
• 17:15
  Speaker 20: Now you want to grab one corner of the paper banner,
• 17:20
  Speaker 20: just the.
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: Tip of the corner.
• 17:21
  Speaker 19: Here's your fingernail, okay, and that open up and pin
• 17:31
  Speaker 19: down these corners.
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: Yeah, what is it for?
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: In the words you're put together with small printed letters.
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: It all seem to be the same kind of typeface.
• 17:42
  Speaker 20: Letters were probably clipped from a book then pasted together
• 17:45
  Speaker 20: to phone these words?
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: Who said it? What does it say?
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: Thanks?
• 17:51
  Speaker 11: Len?
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: You want to see your wife alive? Have thirty thousand
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: small bills? Tonight tell police I killer instructions following mail.
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: Thirty thousand. I haven't got the money. I can't get it.
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: He'll kill her, mister Kessel, there's still a chance.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: But what can I do?
• 18:14
  Speaker 11: I haven't got that much money, he says, he'll kill her.
• 18:17
  Speaker 12: What can we do?
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: What we've been doing? Yes?
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: Wait, you are listening to dragnet. The case history of
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: a police investigation presented in the public Interest.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: Wednesday, seven am. With the aid of an iodine fume,
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: gun Lee Jones checked the extortion letter from missus Kessel's
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: abductor for fingerprints and other marks of identification. He found nothing.
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: The piece of paper on which the cutout that the
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: letters had been pasted was of a common variety sold
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: in the most stationary and five and ten cent stores.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: Jones photographed both sides of the envelope in the letter.
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: Eleven am, still no word. None of the special details
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: had anything to report. At one pm, another letter was
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: delivered to the house. The envelope was open, the letter
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: removed carefully and pinned down at the corners.
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: But together the name is the lastman.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: Tonight eleven o'clock, Come alone your car, Tell police, I
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: kill her.
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: Is there more Friday?
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, drive corner lake Shore, Charters Street, wrap money, brown paper,
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: small bills. Come alone your car, put package by fireplug,
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: then leave. Tell police and I killer no signature. I
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: haven't got the money like Sure and Charter. That shouldn't
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: be too hard for us to catch. Sounds pretty much
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: like an amateur to touch. If he's green, little scaryasy,
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: he's scared, he may kill her. Not if we reach him.
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: How can I get the money?
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: You won't need any Whenever dummy package met up, there
• 20:10
  Speaker 6: will be a single dollar bill. Inside must be newspapers
• 20:13
  Speaker 6: cut to the size of currency.
• 20:14
  Speaker 5: That's what you will deliver.
• 20:16
  Speaker 11: But when he gets the package, when he finds out
• 20:18
  Speaker 11: it's not the money, what's he going to think?
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: We'll explain it to him. Starting at ten o'clock that night,
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: more than a dozen cars from the Detective Bureau circle
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: the area around Lakeside Avenue and Charter Street, keeping a
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: distance ranging from three quarters to a full mile away
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: so as not to scare off the abductor. Some of
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: the cars were parked in service stations, some in private driveways.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: The neighborhood was located in the heart of a new
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: veterans housing project. For a full five blocks in either direction.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: There were no buildings of any kind where we could
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: keep an eye on the package of fake ransom money.
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: The owner of one of the completed houses nearest the
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: spot on Charter Street was contacted and he agreed to
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: let us use his home as a lookout. Went for
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: the steak out that night nine pm. Ben and I
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: took up our positions on the roof of the lookout house.
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: We were equipped with two pair of night binoculars and
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: a walkie talking I could think of a few other
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: places I'd rather spend the nine How well can you
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: see that intersection from here?
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: Comes in fine with these binoculars. The guy shows we
• 21:24
  Speaker 5: ought to see him.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I better check with the captain again.
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: What time you got nine five? Where's the skipper puck?
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: Private driveway? In your charter and heyward Friday to one
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: o five K, Friday to one oh five K, come in,
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: go ahead. Got a clear view of the intersection, nothing
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: yet outside of cramp legs.
• 21:51
  Speaker 5: You're reading me?
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: Okay?
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Got your old fine over.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: Roger standing by.
• 22:00
  Speaker 5: You're lucky my kid can't see me. Now, Why you'd
• 22:04
  Speaker 5: never understand?
• 22:05
  Speaker 8: Why should his father'd be sitting on top of somebody's
• 22:07
  Speaker 8: roof late at night.
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: He'd never get in.
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: We waited. Ten o'clock came ten thirty. At exactly eleven PM,
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: as we watched through our night binoculars, we saw Professor
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: Kessel drive up to the designated location five blocks away,
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: placed the fake package of ransom money by the fire
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: hydrant near the intersection, and then drive away eleven thirty.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: We waited midnight two am. Nothing happened. The package was
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: still lying with the fire hydrant undisturbed. Captain Steed checked
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: with us periodically on the walky talkie. At three thirty am,
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: we were still waiting. At a few minutes past six
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: a m. Professor Kessel was directed to return to the intersection,
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: pick up the package, and drive back to his home.
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: His wife's subductor had failed to show. Maybe the suspect
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: had sensed a trap. Maybe he had no idea of
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: showing up in the first place. Maybe Missus Kessel was dead.
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: We didn't know. Ten am Thursday, no further contact from
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: the abductor a special detail from homicide, including Ben and
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: I were ordered on a door to door canvas of
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: the general area around Lakeside Avenue on Charter Street. After
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: seven hours of ringing doorbells and asking questions, we came
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: across from mister Harold Olander, one of the long time
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: residents of the Silver Lake area. We showed him the
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: general description of missus Kessel's abductor. Yeah, that could be Thompson.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: I don't know for sure, though. Where did you see
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: this down for mister o'lander? Oh?
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: I saw him lots of times. He wrenched that cottage
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: of mine down the street there you see the white one.
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: Does this Thompson have a car? Thompson?
• 23:37
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, new one.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: I wonder if you could describe it.
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: Chevrolet, nice looking blue color.
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: I think could be You know, is Thompson in the
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: house now, mister Orlander? Nope, some drive away over this morning.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: I can show you the house. If it's official police
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: business it is. Come on, then I got the key
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: right here. Cottage just down the block there, see the one,
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: I mean, the the white one.
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: Yes? How long is time? From been in the house
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: two weeks tomorrow?
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: You noticed anything unusual about him?
• 24:08
  Speaker 21: Mm nothing special comes and goes at odd hours. But
• 24:13
  Speaker 21: then a lot of people do. I don't Fry says
• 24:16
  Speaker 21: out right here? Does he usually keep all the blinds drawn?
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: Yeah, now that you mention it, a lot of people do.
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: I guess I wanna check back in the kitchen bedding?
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: Yeah, huh. Look at the living room, sergeant, Yeah, on
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: a stick a finisher. That's funny.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: You sure you didn't see anybody else in this house
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: besides Thompson?
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: No, No, he's the only one. Looks like it.
• 24:49
  Speaker 8: Joe Hm found this woman's purse steps in one of
• 24:52
  Speaker 8: the kitchen cabinets.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: This sales slip was in the perth. Let me see missus,
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: Albert Kessel or a phone here, mister olanerd.
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: Uh out in the hall?
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: All right?
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: He still cannik it? Yeah, Joe, I'll check back in
• 25:09
  Speaker 5: the bedroom, sway, phone.
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: Right, Ben, No, you better stay with me, mister Orlander,
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: if you will, All all right, City Hall homicide, homicide.
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: You any idea where this Thompson is now, mister Orlander.
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: No, if he comes and goes, I don't like your
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: pride homicide Steed.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: This Friday skipper, we got one for you.
• 25:33
  Speaker 5: I've got one for you. Huh, missus Kessel, She's been fobbed.
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: Missus Kessel was unharmed. She had no idea where she
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: had been or why she had been suddenly released. All
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: additional information which she could furnish on the suspect was
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: immediately relayed to the entire state in an APB. Two
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: hours later, at a neighborhood garage, Thompson patronized. We got
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: his license number. We ran it through DMV and found
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: the car was registered in the name of Charles Cattrell
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: one one five Green Oak Drive.
• 26:02
  Speaker 8: Seven PM. Yes, police officers, it's George Control here.
• 26:17
  Speaker 22: Yes, come in please. I knew you'd find him. I
• 26:26
  Speaker 22: kept hoping that I knew you'd find.
• 26:29
  Speaker 12: You. Give himself up. I'm his wife. I talked to him.
• 26:34
  Speaker 12: There won't be.
• 26:35
  Speaker 5: Any trouble, No trouble, whoresy.
• 26:38
  Speaker 12: We got to understand he didn't know what he was doing.
• 26:41
  Speaker 22: We needed money.
• 26:42
  Speaker 20: He didn't know what he was doing.
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: We'll have to search the house, ma'am.
• 26:45
  Speaker 14: Joy Johny, get your hands behind your head.
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: I don't have a gun, all right, man behind you back, Charlie.
• 27:09
  Speaker 17: You didn't know what you were doing too.
• 27:12
  Speaker 5: We needed the money, I thought it'd work. What I
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: do wrong?
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: Come on?
• 27:16
  Speaker 5: Should have worked?
• 27:17
  Speaker 23: I plan it all out. Would I make a mistake
• 27:21
  Speaker 23: when you thought of it? The story you have just
• 27:30
  Speaker 23: heard was true, only the names were changed to protect
• 27:34
  Speaker 23: the innocent.
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: On August, second trial was held in Superior Court, Department
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: eighty six, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: In a moment the results of that trial, Charles Catrell
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: was tried and convicted of kidnapping and received the sentence
• 27:57
  Speaker 4: as prescribed by law. He is now serving his turn
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: in the state penitentiary. You have just heard Dragnet, a
• 28:08
  Speaker 4: series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: Dragnet comes from the Office of Chief of Police W. A. Wharton,
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: Los Angeles Police Department.
• 28:27
  Speaker 17: Next, here's Sarah Berner and Sarah's Private Caper on NBC
• 28:43
  Speaker 17: Welcome Back.
• 28:44
  Speaker 24: This is one of those episodes of Dragnet that I
• 28:47
  Speaker 24: remember not for the crime, but for the human touches
• 28:51
  Speaker 24: of the story. The first act is dominated by what's
• 28:56
  Speaker 24: going on with the professor, and you feel for him
• 28:59
  Speaker 24: because he's obviously concerned about his wife, but he wants
• 29:05
  Speaker 24: to try to keep his kids calm and not to
• 29:11
  Speaker 24: overly alarm him, and in that context it's understandable why
• 29:17
  Speaker 24: he continued on with the Satar. But we see that
• 29:20
  Speaker 24: that attempt to maintain normalcy breaks down, and of course
• 29:25
  Speaker 24: it's challenging for the police, including Sergeant Friday, because they
• 29:31
  Speaker 24: find themselves at this satar and in a cultural context
• 29:35
  Speaker 24: where they're not sure what to do. Thankfully there's a
• 29:38
  Speaker 24: Jewish detective there to help them through the process without
• 29:41
  Speaker 24: troubling the professor. It wraps up in a way that's
• 29:45
  Speaker 24: realistic but somewhat anti climactic. She's returned home and it
• 29:51
  Speaker 24: turns out the kidnapper was a total amateur, which explains
• 29:55
  Speaker 24: a lot. The episode highlights one of Dragonet's rngth in
• 30:01
  Speaker 24: the ability to take crimes and cases that lack the
• 30:06
  Speaker 24: sensational splash that are so often associated with Chrin dramas
• 30:12
  Speaker 24: and still find the humanity and the dramatic elements in
• 30:17
  Speaker 24: them without being too over the top. Listener comments and feedback,
• 30:22
  Speaker 24: and we go to Good Pods where, regarding the Big Purse,
• 30:26
  Speaker 24: Alexis writes another case where I'm on the edge of
• 30:30
  Speaker 24: my seat wondering if Friday gets back to his meal,
• 30:34
  Speaker 24: I would be of the opinion in most cases unless
• 30:38
  Speaker 24: the food is at home, that he does not. And
• 30:41
  Speaker 24: I have to say that I have a thing about
• 30:45
  Speaker 24: not abandoning food, which would make life if I ever
• 30:51
  Speaker 24: had been a detective, would make life very hard. All right, Well,
• 30:55
  Speaker 24: thanks so much, appreciate the comment. Now it is time
• 30:58
  Speaker 24: to think our patreonsupp the day, and I want to
• 31:00
  Speaker 24: go ahead and thank Bernie currently supporting the podcast at
• 31:05
  Speaker 24: the shameless level of four dollars per month. Bernie's been
• 31:08
  Speaker 24: one of our Patreon supporters since June, and that will
• 31:11
  Speaker 24: actually do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast,
• 31:15
  Speaker 24: please follow us using your favorite podcast software, and be
• 31:19
  Speaker 24: sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you download
• 31:22
  Speaker 24: it from. We'll be back next Saturday with another episode
• 31:26
  Speaker 24: of Dragnet, but join us back here on Monday for
• 31:30
  Speaker 24: the adventures of the fall can wear.
• 31:32
  Speaker 12: He bought that for self defense?
• 31:34
  Speaker 5: Who ever heard of guns or anything else?
• 31:37
  Speaker 17: You think he killed Taylor his gun did?
• 31:39
  Speaker 7: Oh?
• 31:39
  Speaker 14: But that's just it.
• 31:40
  Speaker 7: Can't you see how convenient it was? Trash can was
• 31:43
  Speaker 7: turned over so the gun could be found. It was
• 31:46
  Speaker 7: a plant.
• 31:46
  Speaker 5: Maybe.
• 31:48
  Speaker 14: Going to the paper, Conrad claims Taylor got the gun
• 31:50
  Speaker 14: away from in.
• 31:51
  Speaker 5: The fight, but I didn't say what the fight was about.
• 31:53
  Speaker 7: Do you know, Yes, That's why I wanted to see you.
• 31:56
  Speaker 7: Taylor was a swindler. He sold Georgian interest enow fake
• 32:00
  Speaker 7: silver mining project.
• 32:01
  Speaker 5: How did Georgie find out it was fake?
• 32:03
  Speaker 14: Mister Moody?
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: Who's Moody?
• 32:05
  Speaker 7: Oh, the man who introduced Georgie to Taylor. When he
• 32:09
  Speaker 7: found out Taylor was a crook, he felt terrible about
• 32:11
  Speaker 7: it and told Georgie right away, but Georgie had already invested.
• 32:16
  Speaker 5: Is Moody a friend of Georgie's?
• 32:18
  Speaker 7: No, they met on the train.
• 32:19
  Speaker 5: I think, where can I find Moody?
• 32:22
  Speaker 7: I don't know, but I guess Georgie would. Why what
• 32:25
  Speaker 7: are you wanting for? Do you think Moody can help you?
• 32:27
  Speaker 17: Maybe?
• 32:28
  Speaker 24: I hope you'll be with us then in the meantime,
• 32:31
  Speaker 24: send your comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot NP,
• 32:35
  Speaker 24: follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check us
• 32:39
  Speaker 24: out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com slash Great Detectives from Boise, Idaho.
• 32:46
  Speaker 24: This is your host, Adam Graham signing off.