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Foreign. This is Case Closed Crime stories from the Golden Age of Radio. Welcome back to Case Closed. One hour of mystery and crime from the golden age of radio every Wednesday@ RelicRadio.com. our first story comes from 21st Precinct. We'll hear the Trip, their episode from September 8th, 1954. After that, it's this Is yous FBI and the Unwilling Hostess. That story aired January 9th, 1949. When he face Precinct Sergeant Waters. What do you mean he's missing? Missing from where? Yeah, yeah. Well, how long ago did he leave? Uh huh. How much money? You are in the muster room at the 21st Precinct, the nerve center. A call is coming through. You will follow the action taken pursuant to that call from this minute until the final report is written in the 124 room at the 21st Precinct. All right, I understand. Now just hold the phone. I want to connect you with the detectives. Yeah, just hold on. That's right. 21st Precinct. It's just lines on a map of the city of New York. Most of the 173,000 people wedged into the 9/10 of a square mile between Fifth Avenue and the east river wouldn't know if you asked them that they lived or worked in the 21st. Whether they know it or not, the security of their homes, their persons and their property is the job of the men of the 21st Precinct. The 21st. 160 patrolmen, 11 sergeants and four lieutenants, of whom I'm the boss. My name is Kelly Frank Kennelly. I'm captain in command of the 21st. I was working my day tour, 8am to 6pm after I went through the customary routine of turning out the platoon, reading reports and communications and inspecting the cells and other parts of the station house, I went out on patrol of the precinct in sector car number three. At 10:30am I returned to the station house to keep an appointment with the owner of one of the many nightclubs in the precinct who asked to see me in regard to the application of several of his new employees for cabaret worker permits, which are under the jurisdiction of the police department. After he left, I went into the back room and up the rickety stairs past the 21st Detective Squad on the second floor to the third floor where the precinct youth patrolman, the safety officer, the civil defense patrolman and the precinct hack inspector each have their offices. As I walked down the narrow hallway, I could see inside the open door of the hack inspector's office. Patrolman Jaffe sat behind his desk and a man wearing a Baseball cap and a washed out sports shirt stood in front of him. And how long after that was it before you noticed the briefcase in the back of your cab? Captain? Hello, Jeffy. Well, I took the car around the corner and this lady flags me. And she gets in. When I turn around to listen where she wants to go, I see the briefcase. Listen, what do you want from me? I brought it into the station house, didn't I? You're supposed to thoroughly search the interior of the cab after discharging each passenger. That was trucks double parked and a line in back of me when he got out. How could I hold up traffic? I ought to send you down to the hack bureau on a violation. For what? For being honest. For not looking in the back of the cab. As soon as possible. I told you. Jaffe. Yes, sir. Cabin. I want you to call down to the license bureau and check on these for me. Yes, sir. The owner of the cabaret was just in my office. He's got these new people working for him and he hasn't heard. Yes, sir. I'll get right on it. Could I go now? I'm only losing time. Yeah, you can go. But look in the back of your cab, will you? I will. Don't worry about that, Jaffe. If the desk officer calls, I'll be in the detective squad. Yes, sir. Being honest, you're getting a jam. You've got to be honest faster. Listen, I came in at the first station house I passed at the first opportunity. I brought the briefcase right in and gave it to the Lieutenant down there. Gave me a hard time for being honest. He just wants you to stay honest. Oh. So long. Whole deal over nothing over a brief. Is Lt. King in his office? Oh, yes, sir, Captain. He's in there. Captain Kelly. Come in. Hello, Matt. Captain. You busy man? No. Sit down. Captain, I was just going over the telephone record of the squad. Those guys are supposed to enter every outside call they make. We batted a great percentage last month. There's entries for about half the calls. Well, I guess what you need, Matt, is bookkeepers, not detectives. Yes, I guess so. What can I do for you, Captain? Hold on to your chair, Matt. Wow, it's up. The second and third floors are going to get a coat of paint. No kidding? Yeah, they'll be here at 8 o' clock next Monday morning. I didn't think I'd live to see the day. Everything. Walls, woodwork, everything. What about the muster room and your office? Well, they say that can wait until next year. Take a good look at can still wait. Yes, Excuse me, Lieutenant. Yeah, Cassie, Lieutenant Lawrence K of the 112 Squad is on the straight line, Lieutenant. All right, thanks. Well, Matt, wait just a second. Captain, if you have time. Yeah, sure. Okay. 24 Squad, Lieutenant King. Hello, Matt. Larry, how are you? I'm all right. Listen, Matt. Yeah? A guy walked in the house out here and says he's office manager of the Sunning Hill lennon service at 764 E. 80th St. Yeah. Lester Mappin, M A P P I N. He said he went to the bank for Hudson Tr Company, Lexington Avenue branch. To get his company's payroll. Yeah. He says two men forced him into a car just outside the bank, brought him out here and dumped him on Queens Boulevard. How much was it? $3,129.60. You got a description of the man in the car? We're just starting to talk to him at just this minute. Came upstairs. The desk officer sent him up. Sounds like a straight story, though. He said all they took was the cash. They left the bank book and duplicate deposit slip with him, so they didn't want that. The slip shows a deposit of about a dozen checks. There's a time stamp on it. 10:38am okay, Larry, I'll send a couple of men out there to get them. If you get anything that looks like it could be a line before they get out there, would you get back to me here? Yeah, sure will, man. All right, thanks. I'll mention it. What is it, man? Payroll stick up, Captain? Yeah. Two men grabbed the office manager of a linen service as he was coming out of the Lexington Avenue branch of the Hudson Trust Company. Rode out to Forest hills and took $3,000 off him. Cassidy. Yes, sir. Come in here. Yes, sir. Any descriptions of the car or the men? Just starting to talk to him, aren't there? Oh, yes, sir. Lieutenant. What are you working on? Well, nothing much until just now. Lieutenant. What happened just now? I took a call from the Sunning Hill Linen Service, 764 E. 80th St. Yeah. Their office manager left for the bank over an hour ago to get a $3,000 payroll. He hasn't shown up yet, so they're getting a little bit worried. They've got a right to be worried. They got him out of the 112th squad. He was stuck up by two men coming out of the bank. They loaded him into a car and drove him out and dumped him in Forest Hills. Oh, yeah. Call him back over there at the linen service. Tell them what happened. Yes, sir. Who's out there with you? Novak, sir. Take Novak and ride on out to 112th. Get this guy all right? Yes, sir. All right, get going, Novak. Well, look for a while like it was going to be a quiet day, Captain, you hadn't counted on attention. No, sir, but I had my hopes up. Detectives Cassidy and Novak left immediately for the 112th Precinct in Queens, where the man who had reported he had been robbed of a $3,129 payroll was being interviewed. Before I went downstairs to the muster room, Lt. K, the commander of the 112th Detective Squad, again telephoned Lt. King, the commander of the 21st Squad. Lt. K's detectives had obtained more details from the victim and a description of the two men he said robbed him. He also gave a description of the car, but was unable to furnish a registration number. At noon, sector car number four came by the house for me and I again went on patrol of the precinct. During the course of the patrol, we rode up Lexington Avenue, and as we approached the branch of the Hudson Trust Company, I saw the patrolman on post, Patrolman Charles Lasky, on the sidewalk. I instructed Patrolman Mercado, the operator of the car, to pull over to the curb. All right, Wait here. Mikado Lasky. Yes, sir, Captain. Hello. Wow. Where were you? Where was I When, Captain? When those two stuck the gun on the fellow coming out of the bank and took a three thousand dollar payroll from him. Today? About 10:40 today. Not last night. This is the first I've heard of it, Captain. What's your ringing time? 39. What happened? The office manager of a linen Service got a $3,000 payroll out of the bank. Came out here on the sidewalk. Two men accosted him, forced him into a car and drove him out to Forest Hills. Didn't you hear about it? Well, I rang in at 11:40. The sergeant didn't tell me anything. Well, I don't think he knew about it then. No. It's been awful quiet on the post, Captain. Did you ring in on time at 10:39? Yes, sir, right on time. Where'd you ring from? The call box right here in the corner. How long were you on the corner? Didn't you see anything? No, sir, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Didn't you see two men walk up to another one on the street, One that was coming out of the bank? No, sir. You're sure? Captain, I would have noticed something like that if that happened. You're positive you were on the corner here at 10:39? Yes, sir. I was ringing in. What length of time. Did you talk to the sergeant? For a couple of minutes, Captain. He was giving out an alarm on a lost child. Then where did you go? Well, if I remember correctly, I stayed right here in the corner for a while and told you there was a car parked in the no standing zone here, so I. I wrote out a summons to hang on it. Right here on the corner? Yes, sir. It was parked right here. Let's see the summons. Dub. You have it in your book? Yes, sir. There it is. The car was parked right here. I wrote out the summons at 10:43. In other words, you were on this corner for at least five minutes. At least five minutes. Captain, the car you wrote out the summons for, it wasn't a black Plymouth two door, was it? No, sir. It was a convertible. Did you see the driver? A Chevy convertible. Green? Yes, sir. I saw the driver when she came out. She'd been in the drugstore for a while, and when she came out, I was still writing the summons. Are there any other cars parked between here and the bank at that time? No, sir, they weren't. You sure? Well, if there were, Captain, they. They would have gotten a summons. Come on over to the call box a minute. Yes, sir. No, I didn't see anything going on here, Captain. If anything was going on at that time, I would have seen it. Yeah. 21st Precinct. Sergeant Waters. Captain Kennelly on box 14. Yes, sir. Captain. Sergeant, look on your telephone record and tell me what was the last time Lasky rang in? Yes, sir. 11:40, Captain. Ah. And the time before that? 10:39, Captain. From box 14? Yes, sir. From box 14 both times. Sergeant, connect me with Lieutenant King, will you? Yes, sir. Hold on, Captain. 21st Squad. Lieutenant King, this is Captain Kennelly. Matt. Yes, sir. Matt, did that hold up victim? Tell the detectives out at the 112th that the two men accosted him as soon as he came out of the bank. Yes, sir. They held a gun on him, took him across the sidewalk to the curb? Yes, sir, that's right. Said they had their car parked there right at the curb. Down at the corner from the bank? Yes, sir, that's right down at the corner. Matt. I'm over on that corner now. Yes, sir. Lasky on post here was on this corner from the time of the robbery and for at least five minutes afterwards. He didn't see anything like that happen. Well, he might have missed it, Captain. The guy said it happened awful fast. I got him in the car in a hurry. That's the point, Matt. Lasky says there Was only one car parked here. It's a no standing zone. He gave the one car parked here a summons. And it wasn't the getaway car. It was a green convertible. Is he sure he was there during the time of the robbery? Well, the man's deposit slip was stamped 1038 in the bank, isn't that right? Yes, sir, that's right. 1038. Well, Lasky rang in from this call box here at 10:39. Yes, and he was standing here writing out the summons. After that, the time on the summons is 1043. That puts a little bit different light on things, Captain. Yeah, I think it does. Did they get back from Forest Hills with the victim yet? No, sir, but they left there. Expect them back any minute. Well, I'm kind of interested to hear a little bit more about this robbery. Man, my captain, there was such a thing. All right, I'll be in in a little while. Yes, sir, Captain. So stick of men parked that car there. I'd have seen it. I'd have tagged it. I don't think there was a car. If there wasn't a car, Lasky, there wasn't a stick up. You are listening to 21st Precinct, a factual account of the way police work in the world's largest city. You hear your confession repeated over and over again, drummed into your head. They make you memorize it, sign it, and by torture and drugs, they finally get you, so you yourself believe it. Then finally, they put you on the witness stand, and you hear a voice admitting the guilt. You don't even care anymore. You hardly realize that it's your own voice repeating the words they want you to say. Yes, that has happened in some countries, but there's a very good reason why it couldn't happen to you. 15 words in our Bill of Rights are your protection. They say very clearly, no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. When we read about the rigged trials, the phony witnesses, the drugged confessions that take place in certain countries today, we're pretty glad that our Constitution was written by men of foresight. Maybe they couldn't look ahead to our day, but they were determined to protect us against such things happening in this country for ourselves for generations to come. This right exists, assuring us of fair trials, due process of law, and no one can compel us to be a witness against ourselves. It's right there in black and white, in words that have been unaltered for 165 years. It is one of our freedoms. Now, back to 21st Precinct and Captain Kennelly. When I got back into the car, I instructed Patrolman Mercado to return to the station house. He made a right turn at the next corner and came downtown on 3rd Avenue. I got out of the car and told him to pick up his partner and resume patrol. Then I crossed the sidewalk, walked up the stone steps into the muster room, where Lieutenant Gorman was desk officer, and Sergeant Waters was on telephone switchboard duty. One a voice praising Sergeant Waters. Oh, Captain. Yes, Sergeant. All right. 17 Division called. Inspector McBride wants to talk to you. All right, as soon as I sign the blotter. Yes, sir. 21st Precinct. Sergeant Waters. Well, what's the trouble, lady? Yeah, yeah. Every smoke is coming out of the smokestack. Well, I'll tell you what you do. You call the Department of Air Pollution Control. Air Pollution. Pollution Control. Yes, ma', am, that's right. Worth 40495. Worth wo. Well, I agree with you. Something ought to be done about that. Yes, ma'. Am. You're welcome. Don't mention it. What time did Inspector McBride call, sergeant? Oh, it was 12:14, captain. I told him you were out on patrol. I asked him if he wanted you to get a radio call put out for you. He said no, just have you call him when you got back into the house. All right. Oh, and there's a couple of other messages. I left them on your desk. Okay, you go straight on through the back there. Mr. Mappin. Hello, Cassidy. Oh, Captain. Mr. Mappin, this is Captain Kelly, commanding officer at the precinct. How do you do, Mr. Mappin? Well, it's too bad what happened to you. Yes, In a broad daylight. Right on the street. In broad daylight. Oh, Cassidy, will you tell Lieutenant King I'm back in the house? Yes, sir. And that I'll be upstairs in a little while. Yes, sir. Right back that way. Mr. Mappin, you just can't tell. Just can't tell about what? Just can't tell what's going to happen to you in broad daylight. Well, lots of things can happen upstairs. Yeah. How did they know I was going to be in the bank and when I was gone? Oh, they have ways of finding those things out in broad daylight. Yeah. Well, it has to be in broad daylight. The bank isn't open at night. Right over that way. Who is it? I'm going to see Lieutenant King. Oh, yeah, go ahead. Thank you. Sorry. Right back there to that little office. I'd like to get a chance to call my office. Oh, you will, Mr. Mappin. I'd like to let him know where I am. You can call him. Yes, Cassidy. Lieutenant, Come in. Go ahead. Thank you. Lieutenant King, this is Mr. Mappin. Why are you Mr. Mappin? Well, considering everything all right, I guess. Sit down, please. Thank you. Where's Novak? Casting. He's parking the car, Lieutenant. Okay. Well, it was some experience you had, Mr. Mappin. Yes, it was. I'd really like to call my office and let them know where I am. All right. Use this phone. Thank you. Hello, this is Mr. Mappin. Yes. Yes, I'm all right. I'm perfectly all right. No, no, they didn't hurt me. Could I talk to Mr. Douglas, please? Thank you. Did you bring back a description of the men in the car? Cassidy? Oh, yes, sir. Here's a copy of the 61 they took from him. Here's the bank book and the deposit slip. They gave that back to him. Hello, Mr. Douglas. No, I'm all right. I'm perfectly all right. They didn't touch me. All they wanted was the money, I guess. No, no, I'm not worried. I'm all right. I called to tell you I'm back in New York. I'm at the 21st Squad. 21st Detective Squad. That's on the second floor of the precinct house. Yeah. Yes, that's right, sir. That's. That's right, Mr. Douglas. I'll ask him. Excuse me, Lieutenant. Mr. Douglas wants to know if you'd like him to come over here. No, that's not necessary right now. We want to talk to him, but we'll let him know when. There'll probably be someone over there to see him. Mr. Douglas, the lieutenant says it's not necessary for you to come over. He says they'll send somebody over to see you. All right, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, Sir, I will, Mr. Douglas. Goodbye. Yes, sir. That's my boss. He's really being very nice about the whole thing. Well, he's insured, isn't he? Oh, yes, of course he's insured. Mr. Mappin. Yes, sir? I'd like to get the whole story of this from beginning to end. That all right with you? Well, I told it to the detectives out there and I told it again to your two detectives when they came. Well, you really ought to get used to telling it because you'll be telling it a lot more times. Yes, I suppose I will. First of all, where do you live? I live at 22 West 80th Street, Manhattan? Yes, sir, in Manhattan. How old are you? I'm 34. How long have you been working for the Sunninghill Linen Service? A Little over five years. You always been employed there in your present position? No, I was one of the cashiers when I first came. I was promoted about two and a half years ago. Just what does that mean? Office manager? Well, I'm in charge of the entire office. All the girls, stenographers and the clerks and the cashiers. Everybody who works in the office. I see. Will you tell us what the routine is about the payroll? What do you mean, routine? I mean just how is it made up and who gets it? Everything about the payroll itself. Oh, well, of course, it's not our complete payroll, you know. The office help is paid by check. The drivers and the workers in the laundry get paid in cash. They get paid every week and we get paid every two weeks. The office help. Why is that? I haven't any idea. It's just a system the accountant introduced several years ago. Must be some reason for it. Yes, I suppose. The rest now payday is today, naturally. Naturally. Well, about 9:30 this morning, I phoned to the bank and told them exactly how I wanted the payroll made up. That is, I told them the payroll would be $3,129.60. I told them how many fives, how many tens, how many ones and so forth that I would want. So they'd have it ready when you got there? Yes, that's right, in a package. You took a deposit to the bank also? Oh, yes. Checks that had come in. There's no sense making two trips when you can make one. Why isn't the payroll made up from the cash that the drivers bring in? It's mostly a cash business, isn't it? Yes, it is. But the money the drivers bring in comes late in the afternoon and we take it over and put it in the bank in the night depository. Mr. Douglas doesn't like to leave all that cash around the office overnight. He says the safes are not very safe. The ones that we have, that is. He thinks it's wise to put it in the night depository. So to wait, you went to the bank? Yes, I went to the bank and first I made my little deposit. It was just 10 or 12 checks from some of the accounts that had come in. I gave the teller the payroll check and he gave me the package containing the payroll. That was at 10:38am oh, it's around there. I don't know exactly what time. Well, here's the deposit slip from the bank. You can see where it has the time stamped right on it. Oh, yes, I never noticed before. They put the time on it, they do? Yes. You left the teller's window with a package of money? Yes. $3,129.60. I headed out the front door to Lexington Avenue just the way I do every week. When I got on the sidewalk, I turned to go back to the office. You're gonna walk back? Yes. Quite a pleasant day. I thought I would. And then I felt myself being shoved up against the wall. And these two men were there. One of them had his hand in his pocket, and I was sure it was a gun. It must have been a gun. It could have been anything else. And they told me to go over to the curb and get into the car, and I did. You just did. Well, there's nothing wrong in that, is there? There's nothing wrong in not wanting to get hurt. I mean, after all, it's only money. You can't take a chance of getting hurt just to save the money. Especially if it's insured. Especially, yeah. What happened after they put you in the car? Well, they told me to look down at the floor and not to look at either of their faces. They said they wouldn't hurt me if I didn't make them any trouble. And as I said, it's only money. I decided not to make them any trouble. I looked down at the floor and I kept looking down at the floor. They told me they were going to take me someplace and let me out. They took you out to Forest Hills? That's right. I knew we went across the bridge and we were driving out Queens Boulevard. I don't know where exactly they were taking me, but they were very nice about the whole thing. They laughed. They gave me back the bank book and the deposit slip, as you can see. They said they had no use for that and they knew how much trouble it would cause me if they took it and if it was destroyed. They were very considerate about that. Did you ever see their gun or guns? No, as a matter of fact. But I knew they had them. They must have had them. What made you so sure? Well, the one of them, the one who wasn't driving, he kept his hand in his pocket all the time. You know, in his coat pocket. He said he had a gun, and I couldn't do anything but believe him. You don't blame me for not taking a chance, do you? No, no, I don't blame you. After all was only money. Yeah, that's all it was, only money. They drove you out Queens Boulevard? Yes, that's right. And they got to 75th Road. They pulled the car into the curb and the one that wasn't driving. He opened up and he got out. And they told me to go down the subway. Go down there, don't look around. He said a friend of his was standing on the sidewalk there and would follow me downstairs and see that I didn't turn around or talk to anybody, use the phone, anything like that. Well, I couldn't do anything else but believe him. And I was glad to get out of the car. Yes, you were. Yes, sir. I agreed to do exactly what they said. So I went downstairs in the subway. I guess that car just pulled right away. I didn't see anybody around there, and I walked a few steps toward the train. Then I decided that that was just a story about having somebody follow me downstairs in the subway. So I got back up on the street, I looked around, the car was gone. I saw a cop standing over there in a corner. So I just walked over to him and told him what happened. That's all there is to it. Yes? Captain Canelli. Come in, Captain. Hello, Matt. Captain. Hello, Mr. Mappin. Captain. There's a couple of things I'd like to get straight, Mr. Mappin. Oh, yeah, sure. Anything you want to know, I'd be glad to tell you. I. I don't think I skipped anything. Well, there's a few things I just like to make sure about. Anything you want. But listen, could I get some lunch? Do you think any way I could send out for a sandwich? Yes, we'll get a sandwich for you. Yeah, I'd certainly appreciate it. I haven't had a thing to eat since breakfast. It's getting pretty late. Soon as we get through here. It won't take long. Well, all right, if it won't take long. You were in the bank at 10:38am if that's the time it says on the deposit slip. I guess that's what I must have been in there. I told you it was right around that time. Yes, you told us. Then you came right outside, started to walk back to your office. That's right. When you got out on the sidewalk, you were accosted by these two men. Yes. They told you to walk to the curb right there in front of the back. Well, almost in front of the bank. Down closer to the corner a little bit, I think. Between the bank and the corner. Are you familiar with it? The bank isn't exactly on the corner. There's a couple of stores between the corner and the bank. Captain. Yes, I. I know the spot. They forced you to get into a car which was Parked at the curb? That's right. You told the detectives it was the 1952 Plymouth Tudor. That's right. That's what I think it was. It could have been a 51, but I think it was a 52. What did you do with the money? Well, they took it away from me almost as soon as I got in the car. They took the package just like it was given to me at the bank. I don't mean about the two men. I mean, what did you do with it? I told you, I gave it to them. Those two men. Now, how could you give it to them if there weren't any two men? There wasn't any car. Wait a minute, Mr. Mappin. There was a police officer standing on that corner at the very time you came out of the bank. Well, that could have been in the space you described. There's no parking allowed. The officer was writing out a summons for a green Chevrolet convertible that had been parked there in violation of the law. No other car was parked there at that time. Now, what'd you do with the money? I was held up. They took it away from me. Where is it? I told you that the two men took it away from me. They held me up on the street and made me get in the car. Captain, could we get Patrolman Lasky in here to have him describe the conditions on the street at that very time? We sure can. How soon do you want him, man? Let's get him in here as soon as possible. Let's take a ride out to Forest Hills, go to his sister's house. My sister's house? Yes, that's right. You won't tell us where the money is. We'll find it. What are you gonna do at my sister's house? Find the money. It's not there. I don't have it. But you were there this morning, weren't you? No. Now, why would your sister lie to me? I made a telephone call to the house. She answered the phone. I asked for you. I told her I was a friend of yours. She said you weren't there, but you had been there this morning. You came to visit her and you left. How about it, Lester? Well, nothing about it. I don't know what you're talking about. Look, I knew you picked Forest Hill for some reason. While you were on the way back here, I called some people at your office, asked them who your relatives were. They told me you had a sister in Forest Hills. Is the money there, Lester? It is there, isn't it? Yes. Yes, it's there. I Didn't even unwrap it. I didn't even take it out of the package. It's there. Why did you want to steal from your boss? I didn't want to. I just. I had to. I just had to. You believe me, Captain, I just had to. What do you mean, you had to? I just did. What were you going to do with the money? I needed it. I wanted to go to Europe. Everybody was going to Europe. I wanted to go to Europe. I wanted to take a trip. Well, Lester, I don't think you'll get to Europe. But I do guarantee you a trip. 21st Precinct, Sergeant Waters. What kind of accident? Yeah. Yeah. Well, is anyone hurt? Do you need an ambulance there? Who was hurt? Passengers of the bus or passengers of the car. Did the sergeant's car arrive on the scene yet? Yeah. Well, what are the traffic conditions there now? Yeah. All right. I'll notify the Communications Bureau to send an ambulance. Yeah. Are you placing the driver of the automobile under arrest? Okay. All right. Yeah. And so it goes around the clock through the week, every day, every year. The police precinct in the city of New York is a flesh and blood merry go round. Anyone can catch the brass ring, or the brass ring can catch anyone. 21st Precinct. A factual account of the way the police work in the world's largest city is presented with the official cooperation of the Patrolman's Benevolent association, an organization of more than 20,000 members of the Police Department, City of New York. Everett Sloan in the role of Captain Kennelly. Ken lynch as Lieutenant King. Featured in tonight's cast were Harold Stone, Santa Sotega, Frank Marth, John Larkin, George Petrie and John Sylvester. Written and directed by Stanley Niss. Produced for CBS Radio by John Ives. Art Hannah speaking. This is the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. The equitable life assurance society presents this is your FBI. This is your FBI. The official broadcast from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, presented as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community. Today. All over the country, telephones have been ringing, Equitable Society representatives calling up fathers and mothers telling about the coming announcement from the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Yes, Phil, this is Joe. You know, your Equitable Society representative. Yes, Joe, how goes it? Fine. I just wanted to suggest that you make a point of listening to the middle commercial of this is your FBI. Tonight. The Equitable Societies just published a new and enlarged edition of their famous fact finding chart for fathers and mothers. Listen to that middle commercial. And you'll find out how to get to new fact finding chart for fathers and mothers published by the equitable Life Insurance Society of the United States. Tonight's FBI file. The unwilling hostess. Webster's Dictionary defines a criminal as one who is guilty of an offense against morality or the public welfare. And that definition is correct as far as it goes. But there are other things which must be added if the criminal is to be defined fully and truly. One of these is that the criminal is basically a moral isolationist, living alone in his own small world and having no conception of his need for other human beings, nor any sense of responsibility toward his fellow men. His utter lack of feelings, his constant disregard of the essential dignity of every individual is what makes him a criminal. And it is important that everyone understand that point. It is impossible to know the real meaning of the word criminal without realizing that to him, other people do not exist so that they may enjoy themselves in a fruitful pursuit of happiness. To him, other people exist merely to serve when he chooses as his next victim. Tonight's file opens in the living room of a home located in a well to do suburban section of a large eastern city. One of the occupants of this dwelling, a Mrs. Anderson, is just answering the front doorbell. Just a minute. Mrs. Anderson? That's right. I called you on the phone before. Oh. Oh, yes. Please come in. Thank you. I hope you can put up with an untidy living room. This is our maid's day off. I've just about finished making the bed. I understand. Will you sit right over there? Thank you. Would you like some coffee? I just had breakfast, thanks. Oh, I'm terribly sorry, but I've forgotten your name. Clinton. Ruth Clinton. Oh, yes, Mrs. Clinton. Now I remember. You mentioned something on the phone about a new community center. Wasn't that it? That's what I told you when I called. But you can get that. I don't understand. I used that as an excuse for you to invite me here. But why? I was sent here to talk to you. Who sent you? My husband, Walter Clinton. Remember him? Think hard. I don't know anybody with that name. Look, honey, quit stalling. Mrs. Clinton, I'm afraid you'll have to leave. Walter thought you might say that, so he asked me to show you these newspaper clippings. I'll hold him. You just look. See this one? Your picture. Where did you get those? I told you, Walter gave them to me. Gee, honey, you know, you haven't changed much. What do you want? Walter's in trouble. He needs Some help. Walter's been in trouble all of his life and he wants to see you right away. That's impossible. Look, you wouldn't want him to show these clippings to your husband, would you? He wouldn't. Say, honey, you know Walter better than that. All right. I see. Well, I'll call him and have him come right over. Meanwhile, in the local FBI field office, Special Agent Jim Taylor is reading a wanted notice when Special Agent Dick Madison approaches. Oh, Jim. Oh, hi, Dick. Boss said to check with you. Huh. I guess he was talking about this thing here. Dick, I don't know that there's very much we can do right now, though. What's the offense? Well, apparently there are two charges. One of them is extortion. The other one is murder. That sounds big. What's the story? An elderly man named George Russell was found dead in the covenant of his home. Where was this, Jim? About a town called hamilton. That's about 100 miles north of here. I see. Russell was quite wealthy when his body was found and showed signs of a bad beating. The police thought that robbery was inert. What made them change their minds? The old man had a safe in his bedroom that didn't show any signs of having been tampered with. I see. How do we get into the case, Jim? Well, the police called us when they found some extortion notes. One of them contained a threat to kill the old man if he didn't pay. There were three notes in all, and all of them were signed with the name Charlie. How old were they? All of them were fairly recent. Was there any indication that Russell had paid anything? Well, the local police have been going over his bank account. They found that he'd been making systematic withdrawals of cash for the past few months. I see. The last one of the notes they found was on the stationary of a hotel in Hamilton. The police checked, but no one by the name of Charlie was registered there. This thing is full of dead ends. They did get something from the hotel, though. What was that? Well, they sent the hotel register to our handwriting experts to see if they could find the signature that was in the same handwriting as the extortion notes. How did they make out? They found a Mr. Thomas Norton whose writing matches the notes Norton had been living there with his wife. Had been living there? Yes. When the police checked, they found that Norton had left despite the fact that his rent was paid up two weeks in advance. That sounds fairly suspicious. Any leads on here? Nothing yet. We've sent the extortion notes onto Washington to Have them checked against the writings of known extortionists. So far we haven't gotten any report with the notes signed Charlie and the hotel register signed Thomas Norton. We may have somebody with a lot of aliases on our hands. What do we do now? Well, the only thing we can do now is wait for Washington to give us some kind of a lead on that handwriting. Answer the door, honey. I think it's Walter. Very well. If there's anybody else, don't let them in. Hello, Libby. It's good to see you again. Well, ain't you asking me in? Come in, Walter. Thanks, honey. Now, let me have a look at you. Oh, sugar, you ain't changed a bit. You're lovely, just lovely. Save the Tom, Walter. But, Ruthie, I'm just greeting an old friend. Whatever you call it, you're wasting your time. Look, would you mind telling me now what you both want? Why you came here? Well, it's sort of a social visit in a way. It's been so many years since I seen you. Honey, I just got a big yen to sit down and talk over old times. I'm afraid that wouldn't interest me. Sure, girl. After all the fun we used to have together. Please, tell me what you want. Why, Libby, you're just being downright rude. Walter, get to the point. Okay, Libby, baby, me and Ruthie have been doing an awful lot of traveling lately. Quit traveling all around the country. So? So we figure it's time we settle down for a while. And after talking it over, we decided to settle down with you. What? I know it sounds forward, sugar, but we're moving in. You can't. Why not? My husband. Your husband and your kid went away on a hunting trip. That's why we came here. How did you know that? Oh, we know all about you. You see, I made it my business to keep track of you, sugar, no matter where I was. I knew when your husband bought this lovely house. I knew when your son was born, everything. Why did you bother to keep up with me? Oh, it's a habit of mine. Some folks collect stamps, but I collect people. Only difference is I use the people I collect. Well, you can't use me. I refuse to let you stay. I want your boots to leave at once. And what about these clippings, honey? You want your husband to see them? Well, that's a sugar. Do you? No. Then I guess we stay. Ruthie, have you ever tasted real fried chicken? No. Well, then I'll bet you if we coax a little, Libby will go out in the kitchen and cook us up a nice old fashioned Southern dinner. Want a little more coffee, Ruthie? No, thanks. Was I lying about that chicken? No, it was okay. You hear that, Lizzie? Yes. Look, please, sugar, when somebody praises you like that. Leave me alone. Oh, Lord. I ain't picking on her. She's a touchy. You know, she never used to be like that. Once upon a time, she used to just love every word I said. She's really crazy about me. That's not true. I was a silly high school kid who thought it was romantic to go around with me. But, sugar, you used to spend all your time with me. Why'd you do that? I. I didn't know any better. Ruthie, you know Libby wouldn't let me go out alone, even when I was gonna stick up a gas station. I didn't know you were gonna hold up that man that night. Sugar, you told that same story to the judge and even that nice old man didn't plead. Well, it was true. Yeah, but we got newspaper clippings that say different. That's what got us in here, remember? How come you never told your husband about this, Ruthie? I explained that to you before we came. Libby always was quite a lady. And she always was proud. In fact, the thing she's proudest of is that she's a lady. Now. Nobody like that would want her husband to know that she was once a jail bud. Right, sugar. I'm going upstairs. Wait a minute. What is it? Where me and Ruth asleep upstairs, first bedroom on the list. Okay. Good night, Libby. Sweet dreams, honey. Dick, I think we've got something to work on now. What came in? A couple of things. The first one was a report from the handwriting department in Washington. Did they identify the notes? Yes. It was an extortionist named Walter Clinton. At least that was the name he used the last time he was arrested. Then we were right about the spring of aliases. Yes, we were. I've got his record here. It shows that he's been arrested under 13 different names. How does he happen to be running around loose if he's been arrested that many times? It's the same old story. An easy state parole board sounds like a fine one to get a parole. He got one. I don't know how. And it cost George Russell his life. Oh, Jim, you said before that two things had come up. What's the other one? Oh, there was a car stolen in Hamilton the day that Clinton and his wife left the hotel up there. The car was parked around the corner from the hotel the last Time the owner saw it. And that's the car that Clinton traveled in? That's it across the state line. It was found abandoned this morning here in town. That means he's probably still around someplace. Local police are checking every hotel and rooming house in the city. If he's in any of them, we'll find him. Has any check been made at the transportation terminals? Yes, they've all been supplied with pictures of Clinton. Good. So if Clinton and his wife try to move out of town now, the odds are pretty much against him. Have we got any description on Mrs. Clinton? Only a very general one. He's the one we'll have to collar. What do you think we ought to do, Jim? Well, I don't think there's very much we can do right now, Dick. I think maybe we ought to go home, get some sleep so we can start fresh in the morning. I'll meet you here at eight o'. Clock. Ruthie. What is it? Just seen if you were sleeping yet. I'm not. Real nice here, ain't it? Look, don't worry about Libby. She'll warm up to us after a while. You just remember why we came here, will you, Puddy? Me? Keep your mind on your business, honey. Are you angry with Walter? Just quit trying to make character with her. Oh, sugar. Don't oh, sugar me. I'm just trying to make the whole thing easier for. Excuse me, please. Yes, sugar, what is it? My husband just telephoned. You'll have to get off. Why? They're coming home. When? They started to drive back tonight. Where'd they call from? Hartsville. Where? It's about 300 miles from here, up in the mountain. Oh, well, then there's no hurry. They won't be back too quick. They'll be here tomorrow night. You'll have to go first thing in the morning. Very well. But I thought you said we were going to stay here for a while. Not when we're not martyred, you really don't. But there'll be a slight charge. What are you talking about? Well, I think maybe you'd like to have those Cliftons, wouldn't you? Yes. Okay, you can have them, honey. For $10,000. Fonder, I haven't got that kind of money. Well, then go sell your jewelry. Go get it from the bank. Go anyplace, just get the money. Now, honey, you go get yourself a good night's sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a big day for all of us. We will return in just a moment to tonight's file which shows how Your FBI promotes security for the nation. Now, let's bring this question of security closer to home. Phil, have you got a minute to take a look at this new Equitable Society chart? Why, sure. Oh, it's that fact finding chart for fathers and mothers you were talking about last week. Right? The new and revised edition of the Equitable Society's famous fact finding chart for fathers and mothers. I understand it's designed to show me just how much income my wife and kids would need to live on if I should die. That's it, Phil. You'll know within a dollar or two how much money would be required to keep them well fed, well housed and well clothed. And what's more, with the help of this Equitable Society chart, you will have the answer in five minutes flat. Look, you're guided every step of the way by easy to understand pictures which illustrate the rock bottom expenses your family will have to meet. And when you're finished, you'll have a clear, accurate and complete picture of just what income your family would need during the critical years. Critical years? I'm not sure I know just what you mean by that. The years before your youngest child finishes high school. Years during which the home must have a minimum income to keep it together. You don't have to tell me anymore, Mr. Keating. Just tell me where I can buy one of those fact finding charts. Well, they're not for sale, Phil. They're free. The Equitable Society representative in your community will be glad to bring you a copy. Sit down with him, you and your wife together, there's no obligation. And get a true picture of where you stand. Phone him tomorrow to bring you an equitable fact finding chart for fathers and mothers. Or send a postcard care of this ABC station to the Equitable Society. That's E, Q, U, I, T, A, B, L, E. The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. And now back to the FBI file. The unwilling hostess. There are nearly 5,000 major crimes committed every day in the United States. Many of them fall into the category of crimes against property. Those crimes include arson and burglary and auto theft. The other classification is known as crimes against the person. These include murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and extortion. Of all the crimes committed, perhaps the most vicious, the most basically cruel, is extortion. Because it affects not only the personal safety of the victim, but but also his mind. It traps the victim in a terrible vice from which escape is possible. Two ways, neither of which are attractive. The first and most obvious is to pay the extortioner and Possibly. Thus to invite a lifetime of further extortion. The other way to escape. And the only logical way is to do what the victim in tonight's case from the files of your FBI should have done. That infallible means of escape is to call your local police. Like your FBI, they have a remedy for extortion. But that remedy cannot be applied without the cooperation of you, the victim. Tonight's file continues in the local FBI field office. Morning, Jim. Morning, Dick. I've been waiting for you. What's up? I got a call at home early this morning from Lieutenant Bell of the local police. What did he want? A watch belonging to George Russell turned up in a pawn shop. Here? Yeah. When? This morning. Did you talk to the pawnbroker? Yes. Yes. Who turned in the watch? Pawnbroker remembered the man. And from the description, it was Walter Clinton. But that report that came in on the missing watch said it had Russell's name on the case. How could Clinton pawn it? Well, according to pawnbroker, Clinton identified himself as Russell and showed him an old credit card of Russell. He must have taken that when he killed the old man. I guess so. I checked on the pawn shop. It's legitimate. This is the first time any stolen goods have ever turned up there. I see. When was it pawned? Yesterday morning. Sounds like Clinton is still in town. He is. Lieutenant Bell just called again a few minutes ago. The police have located Clinton's hideout. Where is it? He and his wife have a furnished room over at 411 N. Chester St. Let's pick up a search warrant, Dick, and get over there. Morning, Lippy. Oh, how I did sleep like an innocent bait. Well, Sugar, have you figured out how to get hold of that $10,000? Yes. How you going to do it? I'm selling my jewelry. Why, you sweet child. I still matter to you, don't I? The only thing that matters is getting you out of here. Now, you can't fool me, Sugar. Go away, please. You look so pretty this morning, Livy. Fresh as a do dip. Rose. Leave me alone. Now, Sugar. Break it up. Keep your hands off that dame. Ruth, what are you so angry about? What do you think? I think you're jealous. You just tend to business. But it was Libby's gonna go downtown and sell her jewelry. Is that right? Yes. When are you going? Right now. Ruthie, you're going into town, too. What for? To get us some railroad tickets to New York. And, honey, you better get us on different trains, too. Just in case anybody's looking for the two of us together. Okay. Now scat. Go on, scat. Scat, both of you. And as soon as you're finished, you come right home. I'll have a candle in the wind. Here's the room, Dick. Number 11. I'll unlock it. Okay, go ahead. Thanks, J. Not very big, is it? No. Shouldn't take us too long to go over it. I wonder where they stayed last night. Well, if Clinton is following his usual pattern, he's got an extortion victim here, too. It's amazing the number of people he's been able to get money from. Don't forget, we don't know about all of them. Don't forget that half of the extortion victims don't report it. Doesn't make much sense, does it? Then the kind of false pride that keeps them from reporting it doesn't make much sense either. No, I guess not. Nothing in this bureau, Jim. I have a hunch this might be something. That phone book? Yes. It was laying open in this place. Take a look at those page numbers 32 and 35. There's a page missing. Just might be that the new victim's name is on that page, Dick. We can check and see. It means going through about 800 names, Jim. Let's get back to the office and start calling. It makes 15 for me. How many you done, Dick? 12. That leaves approximately 775 to go. We can get the Californians back by the time we finish these. Worst part of it is that even if we're right about this page having the victim's name on him, he might not admit it if we call him. I've been thinking about that myself. Special Agent Taylor. Hello. Hello. I called the police and they told me to call you. Yes, I understand you're looking for a man named Walter Clinton. Dick, check this coolant. Yes, ma', am, we are. He's going to be on the 6:14 train out of here tonight for New York614. And how do you know that, ma'? Am? Never mind how I know. I'm telling you, he'll be on that train. Do you want his space number? Yes, please. He'll have compartment B on train number 21. That can be true. Number 21. I see. And may I ask who this is? I'm just a citizen who wants to see justice done. Well, that's very commendable of you, ma'. Am. You'll be sure to have someone at the station to arrest him? Oh, yes, we will. Fine. Goodbye. Hello, Nick. I hope they were able to trace that I talked as long As I could before she hung up. Our operator's calling me right back. Good. He said Clinton was going to be on the 614 in New York. Is that the space on the train she gave you? That's right. Special agent medicine. Thank you very much. Well, I'm afraid it's not going to be too much help, Jim. That call was made from a pay station. Where's the phone located? In a drug store at Main and 48th. Might be more help than you think, Dick. Let's see that page out of the phone book. Is that you, Libby? Yes. I'm in the living room, sugar. Did you get the money? Yes, I have it right here. 10,000. Oh, you're an angel. Let's have it, sugar. Here you are. You know, I was beginning to worry about you. Little Ruthie's been home for almost an hour. Where is she? She's upstairs. She had a headache. Wanted some aspirin. Call her down. I want you both to leave at once. You don't have to call. I'm here. Look here, Ruth. Forgot the money. Swell. I'd like those clippings. Why, sure, honey. You're entitled to them. You get what you pay for. I'll let you have them just as soon as I finish counting this green stuff. Walter, maybe you better let me carry that. The money? Yes. What for? Well, in case you get picked up. Uh, why not? I peeked in your bag while you were out. What? Mm. I saw that you bought a ticket for me to New York and one for you for California. Looks like you were going to take the money and hang me up. Right, Ruth? Of course, I. You're lying, Ruthie. Ain't you, sugar? Ain't you enough of that? Clinton. What? Who are you? I'm from the FBI. The maid let me in the back way. There's another agent out in front. What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the train. Oh, you called the FBI. Called us, Clinton. We traced the call to a drugstore on the corner. But how did you know he was in this house? He tore a page out of the phone book that has your name on it. There are only three names on either side of that page within two miles of that drugstore. So we checked those three first. All right. Come on, Clinton. And you, too, Mrs. Clinton. Let's not keep my partner waiting too long. Walter Clinton was sentenced to 10 years for violation of the extortion statutes, after which he was turned away over to local authorities to face charges of murder. His wife Ruth was sentenced to A six year term in a federal penitentiary. With those convictions, your FBI was able to close another case involving murder and extortion. Two of the most serious crimes in the federal code of law. But these crimes and others like them will continue to be committed so long as the general public retains its present apathy. Regarding the very serious. Serious and dangerous rising tide of lawlessness. You, the decent citizen listening to this program tonight. Can do something about this if you want to take the trouble. The biggest step you could take in the right direction. Would be to join with your fellow citizens in seeing to it that you have a strong and alert. And above all, a politically unhampered local police force. Your FBI will always be available as a final bastion against crime. But your first line of defense against the criminal army in America today. Is in your hometown. And the stronger you make your local police, the better your protection will be. That is the job you can do if you want to help in fighting America's rising tide of lawlessness. In just a moment, we will tell you about next week's exciting case from the official files of your FBI. Now, one last word to all the fathers and mothers in our audience. Who want to get copies of the new and enlarged edition. Of the fact finding chart for fathers and mothers. Just published by the Equitable Life Insurance Society. I believe you said that this chart is not for sale. That's right, Phil. You can't buy it. It's free. And the man who'll be glad to see that you get one of these fact finding charts. Is your Equitable Society representative. No charge or obligation, of course. Make a note to phone your Equitable Society representative soon. Or send a postcard, care of this ABC station. To the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Next week we will dramatize another case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A case describing one of the vilest of rackets. Its subject, black market babies. Its title, the Mercenary Mother. The incidents used in tonight's Equitable Life Assurance Society's broadcast. Are adapted from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, all names used are fictitious. And any similarity thereof to the names of persons living or dead is accidental. Tonight, the music was composed and conducted by Frederick Steiner. The author was Jerry Lewis. Your narrator was William Woodson. And Special Agent Taylor was played by Stacy Harris. This is your. FBI is a Jerry Devine production. This is Larry Keating speaking for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. And the Equitable Society's representative in your community. And inviting you to tune in again next week at the same time when the Equitable Life Assurance Society will bring you another thrilling story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Mercenary Mother on this is your FBI. This is abc, the American Broadcasting Company. You can find more from the 21st Precinct. This is your FBI, case closed and all of the Relic Radio podcasts at the website relicradio com.com. our shoutcast stream is up and running there as well with even more Old time Radio. And you can always donate through the website if you'd like to help support this and all of the Relic Radio shows. Thanks to those who have. Thanks for joining me this week. Talk to you again next Wednesday with another hour of Case Close.