Crime Classics and Dragnet

Summary

Case Closed! – "Crime Classics and Dragnet"
RelicRadio.com | January 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Case Closed!" reopens two dramatic crime stories from the golden age of radio: Crime Classics' "Madeline Smith, Maid or Murderess?" (originally aired January 20, 1954) and Dragnet's "The Big Betty" (November 23, 1950). The host, Thomas Hyland, acts as a connoisseur of true crime, delving into real stories from court records and newspapers, while Dragnet exemplifies early police procedural storytelling. Each segment takes listeners through intrigue, love, deception, and law enforcement’s relentless pursuit of justice.

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Segment 1: Crime Classics – "Madeline Smith, Maid or Murderess?"

[00:10] – [27:47]

Theme & Setting

• Set in 1857 Glasgow, Scotland, this true crime story tells of love, social ambition, blackmail, and an infamous murder trial.
• Central figure: Madeline Smith, a young woman accused of poisoning her lover, Pierre Emile L'Angelier.

Key Discussion Points

The Courtship and Triangle

• Narrator sets the scene: “Even in the middle 1800s, Kelvingrove park was a place to be reckoned with...” [03:00]
• Pierre Emile L'Angelier, a refined lodger, becomes enamored with Madeline Smith, daughter of a wealthy architect.
• Their romance becomes passionate but forbidden, with clandestine meetings and affectionate letters – Pierre’s leverage over Madeline.
• A rival suitor, William Minnock, enters the picture at her father's urging—creating both romantic and social complications.

Love Letters as Leverage

• Pierre refuses to return Madeline’s letters:
  • “If you look with love at another man, I will take the letters to your father and prove to him that your love for this another man is a passing thing." – Pierre [15:00]
• Madeline accuses Pierre of blackmailing her, but he deflects, trying to mix possessiveness with affection.

The Poison Plot

• Madeline requests arsenic from an apothecary:
  • “Apothecary. I would like 5 ounces of arsenic.” [15:46]
• Pierre, soon after their next intimate rendezvous and cups of hot chocolate, is struck by illness—twice surviving, before succumbing.

The Investigation and Trial

• Pierre is discovered dead, and his landlady presents Madeline’s letters to the police as evidence.
• Forensic examiners find 86 grains of arsenic in his body.
• Madeline is tried for attempted murder and murder:
  • “To one charge of attempted murder, Madeline Smith was found not guilty. To the other charge…not proven. To the charge of murder, the verdict not proven.” [26:30]
• William Minnock testifies, expressing shock; Madeline is ultimately acquitted.
• The tale ends with ironic commentary on Madeline’s later life:
  • “She lived till she was 90 years old, an amazing thing, her complexion always clear and youthful. She was a frequent sight at the drug counters, a big buyer of arsenic, wherever she was.” [27:15]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “You are blackmailing me, Pierre.” – Madeleine [15:16]
• “Cruel and gentle. Sane and mad. The prerogatives of a man in love.” – Pierre [19:13]
• “For each day, each night that I come here to you and hold you close, I bind you closer to me. And there is no escape.” – Pierre [23:36]

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Segment 2: Dragnet – "The Big Betty"

[30:23] – [58:07]

Theme & Setting

• Police procedural dramatizing an LAPD bunco detail’s pursuit of a petty swindling gang preying on the bereaved via the “obituary racket.”

Key Discussion Points

The Grift Exposed

• Victim Ms. Bergstrom brings in evidence: a fake wristwatch and pen set, sold as “gifts” from her deceased fiancé. She paid dearly, thinking they honored his last wishes.
• The conman exploits grieving relatives, using obituaries and casualty lists to target likely victims.
  • “That’s one thing they never could tap me for. Obituary racket. Lousiest racket there is.” – Judd, former conman [37:25]
• Detectives Friday and Romero meticulously trace the ring, evidencing early procedural police work: interviews, informants, mug shots, stakeouts, and forensic matching of cheap merchandise.

The Investigation

• Police follow leads on a group of four or five conmen from the Midwest, working together but keeping their leader mysterious.
• Breakthrough comes as Judd’s brother connects the gang to daily obituary lists and a local hotel.
• Two key suspects, Wesley Fisher and Raymond Breen, are found with loot and arrested.
• The investigation reveals a full network—gang members never directly meet their boss, only communicate through intermediaries.

The Woman Behind the Scam

• As the investigation deepens, complaints indicate a woman now participates.
• Wesley Fisher, facing heavy charges, flips and names Betty McGraw as the mastermind.
  • “Her name’s Betty McGraw. She’s the one you’ve been looking for. The whole idea was hers. She planned it out. She got everybody together. It was her show.” – Fisher [54:22]
• Police track her New Year’s Eve to a crowded hotel bar, arresting her in a bittersweet, almost cinematic fashion as Auld Lang Syne plays.
• McGraw is unrepentant and flippant even in custody:
  • “Is there a bar outside? I didn’t know there was a bar outside.” – Betty McGraw [56:12]

The Outcome & Reflections

• All members of the bunco gang, including the ringleader, are convicted of grand theft and sent to state prison.
  • “The remaining members…were tried and convicted of grand theft. They are now serving their terms in the state penitentiary.” [58:07]
• Closing lines emphasize Dragnet’s authenticity and commitment to justice.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “How could anybody get lower than that?... They keep trying.” – Ms. Bergstrom / Friday [36:15]
• “You wouldn’t know the truth if it followed you, mister. Now, look, maybe you’re great at conning old men and young girls, but don’t try to pass any of it here.” – Friday to Fisher [53:21]
• “Happy New Year… Maybe next year we’ll have it off.” – Friday, as arrest concludes during holiday revelry [56:31]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:07] – Pierre expresses infatuation with Madeline; the romantic triangle begins.
• [15:46] – Madeleine requests arsenic – pivotal moment in true crime story.
• [25:07] – Pierre’s death and subsequent investigation.
• [26:30] – The trial verdicts.
• [36:13] – Emotional impact of the con on victims (“How could anybody get lower than that?”).
• [54:22] – Fisher implicates Betty McGraw.
• [56:10] – New Year’s Eve arrest scene, bittersweet closure.

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Tone & Style

• Crime Classics: Wry, ironic narration with tragic undercurrents; darkly humorous, almost poetic description of macabre details.
• Dragnet: Gritty, straightforward, and methodical, focusing on hard police work and understated emotional beats.

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Final Thoughts

This episode showcases the range and enduring appeal of golden age crime radio, balancing melodramatic true crime with sharply rendered police procedure. The intersection of personal tragedy and public justice is explored from different angles, demonstrating how timeless these stories remain.

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Notable Moments for New Listeners:

• The psychological battle between Madeline Smith and Pierre L’Angelier, culminating in murder and an ambiguous verdict.
• The deeply human cost of con games, as shown through Ms. Bergstrom’s heartbreak and the unrepentant bravado of criminals.
• Two styles—melancholic wit and no-nonsense realism—that defined midcentury crime drama.

Listeners new and old will find these case files both entertaining and a window into cultural anxieties of their times.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

Foreign.

[Thomas Hyland]

This is Case Closed Crime stories from the golden age of radio. Welcome back to Case Closed. One hour of mystery from the golden age of radio. Every Wednesday@ Relicradio.com. first this week is Crime Classics. We'll hear Madeline, Maid or murderess from January 20, 1954. After that, it's Dragnet and the Big Betty from November 23, 1950. I had to trim some music off of the Dragnet episode in hopes that the machines at Spotify don't decide it needs to be pulled down. If it does disappear, you can always find it and everything else on the website. But first, here's Crime Classics. Good evening. This is Crime Classics. I am Thomas Hyland with another true story of crime. Listen. That's the way the doorbell sounded at number 14 Pembroke street in Glasgow, Scotland. That's the way it sounded. If a fellow was impatient, if he had just come home from Madeline Smith's house on a March Day in 1857 and really wanted in, his name was Pierre Emile L', Angelier, and the door was in his way. Why didn't someone answer? Anyway, here comes his landlady. She gasped, because Pierre was her favorite lodger and he looked terrible, awful standing there in the doorway, swaying before he fell on his face, dead. Tonight, my report to you on Madeline Smith, Maid or murderess. Which Crime Classics? A series of true crime stories from the records and newspapers of every land, from every time. Your Host each week, Mr. Thomas Hyland, connoisseur of crime, student of violence and teller of murders. Now once again, Mr. Thomas Hyland. Even in the middle 1800s, Kelvingrove park was a place to be reckoned with in Glasgow in the springtime, particularly a bonny place, a place of greens and merry shouts, where gamboled the be kilted young people or the more serious ones. They strolled hand in hand toward some magical and shady and secret glen. In a street which paralleled the park, Pembroke street, there was a red brick house. It was owned by Mary Perry, a woman of 50 who liked imaginative men, young men of elegance and foreign flavor, like her lodger, Pierre Emile l'. Angelier.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

In all my travels the world over, my dear Mademoiselle Perry, I have never seen such a girl. Once in Algiers, perhaps, but that is another story. Temps perdu tan perdu.

[Madeleine Smith]

For the last week you've done nothing but talk about this young lady Prierre. Where did you see her today?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Au PR de la ducks, where the pond for them is throwing to them little pieces of bread and some more brave than the rest. Would swim close to her and she would make small noises to them and feed them from her hand. And what else, mademoiselle, you will never guess.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, tell me.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Her name is Madeleine. Madeleine Smith.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh. How do you know?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

This morning there was a maid servant with her and they became separated for a moment and I approached the maidservant with.

[Madeleine Smith]

That way you have, I'll wager that thing you. You do with your mustache.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Well, yes.

[Narrator/Host]

Yeah.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Do it for me, please. Very well. Enough, enough.

[Madeleine Smith]

And from the maidservant, you learn the lady's name.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Yes. And what her father's name is and where she lives. Her father is Monsieur Smith, the architect. A man of wealth and position. I spent the rest of the morning trying to locate his bank. And did you? Certainment. He is very wealthy, which makes Madeleine a beautiful young woman with a wealthy father.

[Thomas Hyland]

Ah.

[Madeleine Smith]

I am happy for you, Pierre.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Oh, but alas, Madeleine is still to me a stranger.

[Madeleine Smith]

But you know so well how to.

[Thomas Hyland]

Oh, no.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

This is a young lady of refinement. I love her very much. If I should do this thing you like me to do and she would laugh at me, I would jump into the duck pond and drown myself forever.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Then how would you meet her?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Will you help me? Will you help me?

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, greedy, greedy, greedy. Oh, very well. Here's one for you.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Here.

[Madeleine Smith]

Now, here's some bread. Here you are, you lovelies. Bread for you and you and you. Isn't it a lovely day? I beg your pardon? I said, isn't it a lovely day? Oh, yes. Yes, it is. The ducks seem so frisky today, don't they? Except Abby. See how she sulks there. Here, Abby. Here, here. Sulky duck, young miss? Yes. You come here every day, don't you? Why, yes. I watch you from my window from across the street. Why, whatever for? Oh, such a young thing. And beautiful. You are rich. Joy to an old lady such as I to an. What's the matter? I have a pain. Oh, dear. Where? The nasties. They come on me. I think I'll faint. My. I help you over to the bench and put your arm about my waist. And careful now.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Dear ladies, may I be of some assistance?

[Thomas Hyland]

I have here a home medical advisor of the era. The nasties, also known as the vapors. A sudden attack of malaise, predominantly in the female sex. Usually preceding a faint symptoms. Loud noises in the ears, quickening of the heartbeat and dizziness. Make patient comfortable and apply smelling salts.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Now, lie down here on the bench, madame, and we will try to make you comfortable. Now, if there were smelling Salts.

[Madeleine Smith]

I have smelling salts.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Oh, how beautiful of you. Quickly, the smelling salts.

[Thomas Hyland]

And that's the way they met Mary Perry, inhaling the smelling salts. And the two young folk looking at her, concerned. Then the two young folk looked at each other and became more concerned and trembled a bit. And the symptoms they felt were quickening of the heartbeat, dizziness and loud noises in the ears. And they did what young folks most always did when they are met in Kelvin Grove Park. Somehow their fingertips met and their hands. And they strolled and they found a shady glen. Miss Perry watched them disappear. With a happy tear in her eye. She had done her bit for Pierre. Things went so well between the two young people that a couple of weeks later, this was the state of affairs.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Your mama and papa asleep.

[Madeleine Smith]

Quickly. Come on in. Careful, careful. Every time you come through this window.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Then why do you not put the lamp in another place? Oh, Mimi.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, my darling love.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Mimi.

[Thomas Hyland]

Mimi.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Mimi.

[Madeleine Smith]

We will marry.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Oh, wonderful. Oh, Mimi.

[Madeleine Smith]

Right way.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Then you've talked to your mama and your papa?

[Narrator/Host]

Yes.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

And they are happy. They are overjoyed. No, but you should.

[Madeleine Smith]

We can still get married. You have a job and I'll work and you work. What's the matter?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

The thought of you at work stitching and sewing. Or at the laundry with these fingers. These precious little fingers. Fingers?

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, Pierre.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

In other words, your mama and your.

[Madeleine Smith]

Papa will disinherit me if I marry you.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

I refuse to have you disinherited.

[Madeleine Smith]

Then we won't get married.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

No. Somehow. Somehow what? It is more romantic this way. Letters to each other each day. And the clandestine meeting. And the kisses and the.

[Madeleine Smith]

I know. The hot chocolate.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Oh, yes.

[Madeleine Smith]

It should be boiling now. I bring it to you.

[Thomas Hyland]

And that was the romance.

[Madeleine Smith]

My own beloved, you have just left me. Oh, sweet darling. At this moment my heart and soul burns with love for thee, my own sweet one. Oh, what would I not give at this moment to be your fond wife? I love you with all my heart and soul.

[Thomas Hyland]

Sweet love to which her lover answered.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

My dearest beloved Mimi. Since I saw you, I have been wretchedly sad. Think of the consequences if I were never to marry you. What reproaches I should have, Mimi. However, as soon as your papa pledges not to disinherit you, there will be a wedding the likes of which.

[Thomas Hyland]

And the meetings. And the nourishment.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Ah. Oh, Mimi. The hot chocolate of my Mimi is.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, Pierre.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Oh, my darling.

[Madeleine Smith]

No, listen.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Yes.

[Madeleine Smith]

We have been meeting like this for six months now.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Six months of paradise and bliss.

[Madeleine Smith]

And when will we Marry?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Has your father changed his mind?

[Madeleine Smith]

Today my father introduced me to a.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Young man who will quickly fall in love with you and die in despair for your love. Oh, me, me.

[Madeleine Smith]

Wait.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Why?

[Madeleine Smith]

His name is William Minnock. And he is handsome and he is rich.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

And.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, Pierre, I do wish we could get married.

[Narrator/Host]

And that's the way it's done, Miss Smith.

[Thomas Hyland]

Manipulation.

[Narrator/Host]

Borrow from one stop to buy the other.

[Thomas Hyland]

And when the other is going up, then we pay back, you see?

[Madeleine Smith]

And that is how one becomes rich, Mr. Minook. Well, is it?

[Narrator/Host]

I suppose so. Oh, Miss Smith.

[Madeleine Smith]

Careful, careful.

[Narrator/Host]

You'll fall.

[Madeleine Smith]

Perhaps she'd just better row, Mr. Minnock.

[Narrator/Host]

All right.

[Thomas Hyland]

Miss Smith.

[Madeleine Smith]

Yes, William.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

You said William.

[Madeleine Smith]

Yes, I did.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

And may I call you Madeline?

[Narrator/Host]

Madeline.

[Thomas Hyland]

Madeline.

[Madeleine Smith]

Yes?

[Narrator/Host]

It's two months since I've known you.

[Madeleine Smith]

Yes.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Last night I. I spoke to your father about me.

[Narrator/Host]

How dear you are to me. How much I love you.

[Madeleine Smith]

And what did my father say to you?

[Thomas Hyland]

That if you'll have me, he would be very happy.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, Madeline, I don't know. I just don't know.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

But you must. These wonderful days together, you. You've given me hope.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, William.

[Narrator/Host]

I.

[Madeleine Smith]

Put the oars down. Now. Come here. Kiss me, William. Why, William. That was very nice, William. Very nice indeed.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Madeline. Madeline. Oh, Madeline.

[Narrator/Host]

Madeline.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Better and better gets your hot chocolate sherry. My sweetheart. My love.

[Madeleine Smith]

There is something I must ask you.

[Narrator/Host]

Pierre.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Yes?

[Madeleine Smith]

My letters.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

I have saved everyone.

[Madeleine Smith]

I want them back.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

But why, my pigeon?

[Madeleine Smith]

Well, I think sometimes of what I've written to you and such outpourings.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

But your outpourings are for my eyes alone.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, give them back to me.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

No.

[Madeleine Smith]

But why not?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

I will tell you why not. Little dove, if you look with love at another man, I will take the letters to your father and prove to him that your love for this another man is a passing thing. And that your love is only for me, your true love, who you will marry as soon as your father puts aside a suitable dowry for you.

[Madeleine Smith]

I see.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Of course you do.

[Madeleine Smith]

You are blackmailing me, Pierre.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Oh, love, love. Come to me. Kiss me.

[Narrator/Host]

Kiss you?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

How cool your lips are, love.

[Madeleine Smith]

Apothecary. I would like 5 ounces of arsenic.

[Thomas Hyland]

And you know how Pierre liked his hot chocolate. You are listening to crime classics and your host, Thomas Hyland. This Friday night, Mr. Kean, tracer of lost persons, will be looking for a killer with purple hands. When a wealthy Widow is killed, Mr. Keene uncovers the fact, fatal to her killer, that purple hands will reveal who was guilty. Don't miss CBS Radio's Mr. Keen in action this Friday evening over most of these same stations, taking on the case of murder and the Killer with Purple Hands. And now, once again, Thomas Hyland and the Second act of Crime Classics and his report to you on Madeline Smith, Maid or Murderess? Which. A few words about arsenic. Its number on the Mandalayaev table is 33. Its atomic weight is 74.93 and it has a valence of 3 and 5. It is of a silvery luster, but be careful about exposing it to the air since it will tarnish readily. It is used widely in glass works, in making pigments, in calico and indigo printing, and for poisoning animals. Some people eat it. In the Balkans in particular, it is possible to brush shoulders with arsenic eaters. Other people, however, less innocent, use arsenic to poison people. Still other people use arsenic to poison themselves. I would like to remind you that Madeline Smith, a beauty of Glasgow, Scotland, purchased 5 ounces of the stuff from McConaught the Apothecary. But then, arsenic was also used for the skin as a clarifying agent. It is said Madeleine purchased it, went home, had dinner, chatted with her folks, waited for them to sleep, put some hot chocolate to a boil, returned to her room, waited a bit and opened the window.

[Madeleine Smith]

My darling. What?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Truly?

[Madeleine Smith]

Why, of course you are, my darling.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Then what about Monsieur Minot? What endearment did you name him? Guppy. Sweet bun. What? Lovey honey pie? Ginger snap.

[Thomas Hyland]

What?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

I have seen you spy because only I am a man in love. Therefore I am capable of every ruse. What is spying to a man in love?

[Madeleine Smith]

If you loved me, you'd give me back my letters.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Oh, letters. Letters.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, my darling. Give them back to me.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

If I did, how would I keep my heart warm when you are not near to it? How would I?

[Madeleine Smith]

Stop it.

[Narrator/Host]

Stop it.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Of course. Now come to me.

[Madeleine Smith]

No, Pierre.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Yes.

[Madeleine Smith]

You are cruel.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Cruel and gentle. Sane and mad. The prerogatives of a man in love.

[Madeleine Smith]

Yet you would show those letters to my father.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

To your father, to your mother, to the man on the street. Anything to keep you from another.

[Narrator/Host]

Pierre.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Yes, little pigeon.

[Madeleine Smith]

You say that you've seen me with Mr. Minnock. How?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

I was behind the bush, in the park, near the glen that we used to know. And I heard Monsieur Minoc ask over and over that you set a marriage date. I heard also your laughing, but I did not hear your saying no.

[Madeleine Smith]

My father said I might marry him. Pierre.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Then tell your papa you do not wish it. Oh, Madeleine.

[Madeleine Smith]

Yes?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

This morning I read again your letters. Such letters Such warmth, such eagerness, such ardor.

[Narrator/Host]

Such.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Is there chocolate, Mimi?

[Madeleine Smith]

Always. I'll fetch it.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Oh, little pigeon.

[Madeleine Smith]

Come in, Pierre. Andre. Andre. You're happy? Your Madeline was.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

And you.

[Narrator/Host]

Me?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

The most perfect landlady in the whole world. Help me.

[Narrator/Host]

Help me.

[Madeleine Smith]

What's the. What's the matter? You have the nasties. You have.

[Thomas Hyland]

Miss Perry knelt over Pierre, and she knew right away it wasn't the nasties. His eyes were rolling around, and his mouth was grimacing in white, wordless pain. She went for the cologne, dabbed a little on herself. Came back, dabbed a little bit on her lodger. A little later, she helped him up the stairs.

[Madeleine Smith]

Lean on me, Pierre. Lean on me.

[Thomas Hyland]

And helped him to his bed. Miss Perry was never so efficient as when there was a helpless man about the next morning, Pierre was completely recovered. The next night, he went to visit Madeline in her chambers again. Refused to give up the letters again. And had some of that good hot chocolate again. Came home to Miss Perry and fell flat on his face again. This time he was in bed for three days. Which brings us to the evening of March 23rd. As he was walking toward his sweetheart's house, Madeline smith was attending Mr. Minoch.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, come sit by me, William. Sit here by me. I wish to talk with you.

[Narrator/Host]

Okay.

[Madeleine Smith]

Dear William, do you love me? Very much, William.

[Narrator/Host]

Oh. Ay.

[Madeleine Smith]

How much?

[Thomas Hyland]

From.

[Narrator/Host]

From here to a star.

[Thomas Hyland]

Father.

[Madeleine Smith]

Suppose. Suppose.

[Narrator/Host]

William. Hush, hush, hush.

[Madeleine Smith]

But you must listen.

[Narrator/Host]

No, no, you listen to me.

[Thomas Hyland]

If you're about to tell me about that monsieur, about Pierre Langelier, don't. I have heard whispers, but I deny.

[Narrator/Host]

Them with a laugh and a shrug in it.

[Thomas Hyland]

What's that?

[Madeleine Smith]

The shutter, perhaps? Nothing. I'll see what it is. And, William?

[Thomas Hyland]

Hello.

[Madeleine Smith]

There's some chocolate on the kitchen table. Put it on the stove over the fire.

[Narrator/Host]

Of course, love.

[Madeleine Smith]

And wait for me down there.

[Narrator/Host]

Cherie.

[Madeleine Smith]

Quickly. Come in.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Oh, I have missed you. I have missed you. I have missed you.

[Madeleine Smith]

Oh, my darling.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Three days I was in bed, and my thoughts of you always.

[Madeleine Smith]

Dearest Mimi, I know your thoughts fled to me and caressed me and warmed Rhema truly.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Was there ever a love such as ours?

[Thomas Hyland]

Never.

[Narrator/Host]

Never?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Oh, never.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

And eventually what? We will marry. Did you know that?

[Madeleine Smith]

Do you truly think so?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

What manner of man would I be? This tapping upon the window. This stepping over the casement to your arms. Of course we will marry someday. Of course. For each day, each night that I come here to you and hold you close, I bind you closer to me. And there is no escape.

[Madeleine Smith]

No escape?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

None.

[Madeleine Smith]

Pierre yes. Haven't you been feeling well?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

I said to you I was in bed for three days.

[Madeleine Smith]

Why? From what illness?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Of all over. Twice.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Oh.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Each time I have left you. The last two times I have gone to my lodging house and I have sickened. Oh, Madeleine. I know just the thing. Oh, hot chocolate.

[Madeleine Smith]

I'll fetch you some guppy.

[Narrator/Host]

Sam.

[Thomas Hyland]

Pierre Emile L'. Angel. Dead. He was buried Thursday, March 26, and on Monday the 30th.

[Madeleine Smith]

Look at those letters, sir. I told you, she poisoned him. These letters, sir, they. They were in his room. I was the dear man's landlady and I. I demand the police read these letters.

[Thomas Hyland]

The police read them. On Tuesday. They dug Pierre up again, shipped him to the laboratories. And the skillful men there found 86 grains of arsenic in his body. That same day, Madeleine was arrested, charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of murder, and brought to trial on the 30th of June. Madeleine herself did not testify, but Mr. Minnow did.

[Narrator/Host]

I am a merchant in Glasgow. In the course of the last months, I paid my addresses to Miss Smith and I have made proposals of marriage to her.

[Thomas Hyland]

She accepted, mind you, of course, that.

[Narrator/Host]

She knew a man named Pierre Emile l'. Angely. But I was unaware of an attachment.

[Thomas Hyland]

Or peculiar intimacy between she and this man.

[Narrator/Host]

And of the letters this court has read, I.

[Thomas Hyland]

What of the letters, Mr. Minot, I.

[Narrator/Host]

Don'T know what to say.

[Thomas Hyland]

Yes, I do.

[Narrator/Host]

I'm shocked.

[Thomas Hyland]

I'm deeply shocked. The trial lasted nine days. To one charge of attempted murder, Madeline Smith was found not guilty. To the other charge of attempted murder, the verdict brought him was not proven. To the charge of murder, the verdict not proven. I want to congratulate you, Madeleine, on your acquittal.

[Madeleine Smith]

Now we can be wed. Oh, no.

[Thomas Hyland]

I'm off to India. However, she did get married twice and she came to America. She lived till she was 90 years old, an amazing thing, her complexion always clear and youthful. She was a frequent sight at the drug counters, a big buyer of arsenic, wherever she was.

[Narrator/Host]

SA.

[Thomas Hyland]

In just a moment, Thomas Hyland will tell you about next week's crime classic, Madeline Smith. Tonight's crime classic was adapted from the original court reports and newspaper accounts by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. The music was composed by Bernard Herman and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. And the program is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis. Thomas Hyland is portrayed on radio by Lou Merrill. In tonight's story, Betty Harford was heard as Madeleine, Florence Walcott as Mary, John Dana as Pierre, and William Johnstone as Minna. Gil Warren speaking. And here again is Thomas Highland. Next week, the state of Vermont. In Those years from 1812 to 1820, the hills were green and filled with the little people. And it was worth your life to be caught with them. My report to you will be on the Bourne Brothers and the Hangman, a study in nip and tuck. Thank you. Good night. About 58 million of us will have to file our income tax returns to Uncle Sam's collectors of internal revenue by March 15. Taxpayers entitled to refunds will get them sooner by filing early. Every citizen, regardless of age, with 1953 income of $600 or more must file a return. Returns should be complete and accurate, signed by taxpayers. Joint returns signed by both husband and wife. File your federal income tax return early. Assistance is free at any collector's office. America listens most to the cbs radio network.

[Narrator/Host]

Sa.

[Thomas Hyland]

Fatima cigarettes. Best of all, long cigarettes brings you Dragnet.

[Narrator/Host]

You're a detective sergeant.

[Thomas Hyland]

You're assigned a bunco detail. A gang of petty swindlers has set.

[Narrator/Host]

Up operations in your city.

[Thomas Hyland]

They're experienced, cunning.

[Narrator/Host]

They work fast.

[Thomas Hyland]

Your job, get em.

[Narrator/Host]

You'll be amazed when you compare Fatima with other long cigarettes.

[Thomas Hyland]

You'll find they now cost the same. But in Fatima, the difference is quality.

[Narrator/Host]

You see, Fatima is the quality king size cigarette because it contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos, superbly blended. And Fatima is extra mild with a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. Because of its quality, its extra mildness, its better flavor and aroma, Fatima has more than doubled its smokers coast to coast.

[Thomas Hyland]

So try comparing Fatima yourself. Fatimas now cost the same as other long cigarettes, but your first puff will.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Tell you, ah, that's different.

[Narrator/Host]

Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Ask your dealer for Fatima, the quality king size cigarette. Best of all, long cigarettes. Start enjoying Fatima tomorrow, Dragnet, the documented.

[Thomas Hyland]

Drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action.

[Narrator/Host]

It was Tuesday, December 14th. It was cold in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of bunko detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain McCauley. My name's Friday. It was 10:35am when I got to room 38. Bunco detail. Joe. Yeah. Ben, Joe, this is Ms. Bergstrom. You talked to her on the phone last night. Oh, yeah, sure. This is my partner, Sergeant Friday.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

How do you do?

[Narrator/Host]

Glad to know you. Did you carry? Sit down.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Thank you. I was downtown, so I thought it'd be just as easy for me to come in and see you.

[Narrator/Host]

Did you bring those things with you, Ms. Bergstrom?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Here they are. Wristwatch, pen and pencil set.

[Narrator/Host]

Sure make them look nice, don't they? On the outside? Yeah.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Let me take the back off the watch for you. There. You can see for yourself, Sergeant.

[Narrator/Host]

That's junk. Not worth 15 cents.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Charged me $48 for that watch. Said it was wholesale. He wasn't making any profit on it. Tell me he was doing it because he'd known Harry so well. Watch only ran for a day, then it stopped.

[Narrator/Host]

How about the pen and pencil set, miss?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

This is bad. Pen's just a shell. Won't even write. Same with a pencil. I paid him $30 for them.

[Narrator/Host]

Mm. This engraving on the pen was Love from Harry.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

That's Harry's boy I was engaged to. That's how the man got me interested to start with. Came to my house and gave them to me. The watch and the pen and pencil. Said Harry had ordered them as presents for me. I just had to cry when he brought them. Poor Harry.

[Narrator/Host]

When did this man come to your home, Ms. Bergsten?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Yesterday morning. Guess I should have been more careful, but I didn't think anybody would do a thing like that.

[Narrator/Host]

What kind of a story did he give you?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Well, he came to the door and told me his name was Spencer. He said Harry had ordered these things as presents for me. Harry told him to deliver them to my house. Watch looked beautiful in the case. I didn't know anything was wrong.

[Narrator/Host]

I see. Would you go on, please?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

He told me it was a special order. Said Harry had written him from overseas a week before. Harry was in the Marine Corps, you know. Well, he said he hoped engraving was all right the way Harry wrote. He wanted it in his letter. I just couldn't take it. I cried.

[Narrator/Host]

This man, he pretended to be a close friend of Harry?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Yeah. That's why I showed him a letter. One from the Marine Corps. But Harry being killed overseas.

[Narrator/Host]

When did you receive that letter, Ms. Braggstrom?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Two days before, on Saturday. Harry's name was on the casualty list on Monday.

[Narrator/Host]

Yes, we understand. What did the man do when you showed him the letter?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

He sympathized with me. He pretended to. I didn't think there was any trick. I didn't think anybody was that low. Pen and pencil set look a little cheap, but I wanted them no matter how cheap they Were Harry's last present to me. That's what I thought.

[Narrator/Host]

How did he approach the idea of money?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Well, when he was ready to leave, he told me Harry had ordered the things on credit. Said he didn't want to mention it, but he wondered how he could get payment for the watch and the pen and pencil.

[Narrator/Host]

He didn't show you a bill, did he? An invoice listing the price of the watch or the engraving that was done?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

No. I didn't want him bothering Harry's mother or father at a time like this. I borrowed some money from my dad and paid him.

[Narrator/Host]

Let's see, it's $48 for the watch, 30 for the pen and pencil center.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Yeah. He gave me a phone number to call if the watch needed adjustment. And when I found the watch was a fake, I called the number. It was a Chinese laundry. They didn't know anything about it.

[Narrator/Host]

You haven't seen or heard from this man since he left your house yesterday morning?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

No.

[Narrator/Host]

Could you describe this man for us, Ms. Bergstrom? What he looked like, Clothes he was wearing?

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Right here in this slip of paper, Sergeant. I wrote it all out for you.

[Narrator/Host]

Thank you. Well, you're not alone, if that's any consolation. There's an army widow out in Hollywood was cheated on the same kind of deal last Friday.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

It's so cruel using a dead person's name to cheat you.

[Narrator/Host]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

How could anybody get lower than that?

[Narrator/Host]

They keep trying. Ben and I took Ms. Bergstrom's crime report. The phony watch and pen and pencil set were booked as evidence. In the past two weeks, we received a half a dozen identical complaints from relatives or friends of lately deceased persons. The swindler, or con man, as he likes to be called in his trade, gets the names of lately deceased persons from the obituary column or the military casualty list in the newspapers. Then he fixes up some cheap article of merchandise with appropriate engraving and calls on the friends and relatives of the deceased. He pretends to know nothing about the death of the person whom he claims placed the order for the merchandise. In almost every case, the friend or relative agrees to pay for the articles at some exorbitant price. For the con man, it's a lucrative racket. For the public, A vicious one. Wednesday, December 15th. Ben and I looked up an informant, a former con man. What do you think of it, fellas? Been in business for two months, doing fine. What do you think of it? Looks great, Judge. Nice setup. Finest baby laundry in South Los Angeles. That's why I advertise hey, you don't think that's too broad, do you? No, I don't think so, Judd. We got some nice equipment here, baby. Laundry. How'd you ever get started? Father in law sent me up with a loan. Says he got tired of me trying to sell him bum watches. That's a good break for you, Judd. Say, you got a couple of minutes? We'd like to talk to you. Sure thing. Come on back there. New gang? Fine, thanks. Yeah, squared away. Living a solid life. Not bad at all. You know, it surprised me. You ever see any of the old gangs yet? Not much, no. Some of you old grifters look me.

[Thomas Hyland]

Up now and then.

[Narrator/Host]

Try to touch me. No go. Hey, here you are. Going up? Yeah. Thank you. Okay, fellas, what can I do for you? Oh, he'd like to know how close you got your ear to the ground, Judd. There's a gang of bunks in town. They're working hard. What pitch they using? They're working the obits, casualty lists. Thought maybe you might be able to help us. I don't know. How long they been gone? Last couple of weeks. Had half a dozen reports on them. That's one thing they never could tap me for. Obituary racket. Lousiest racket there is. Can you do anything for us? I heard one little rumble about it. Four or five guys in the con mob. That right? We know that, Judd. Where can we look for him? You know my position. When I quit the game, I quit. The only contacts I make are when some of the old boys come around for a touch. Well, how much have you heard about the game?

[Thomas Hyland]

What?

[Narrator/Host]

I said. There's four or five of them out of Middle West, I think. You got any idea at all where we could start looking? I can start checking for you. You nailed any of them yet? We've got to find them before we can arrest them, Judd. Yeah, well, as I say, when I quit the game, I quit. But maybe I can take a few soundings for you. Can't promise you anything. I'm strictly on helping up. Okay, Jud. You know where to get in touch with us. We'll appreciate anything you can do. Well, you help me plenty of times, fellas. Wouldn't hurt a bit to tab that bunch. I'll walk out with you. See you got all the machines going, baby. Laundry business must be pretty good, huh? It's a staple commodity, fellas. Kids always need a fresh change, just not. Yeah, look at this. Just look at the size of it. Yeah. You ever see anything so small in your life? It's cute, huh? Yeah. What is it? New kind of soakers, I think. Let's see the label here. Yeah. Mother Greg. Super Soakers.

[Thomas Hyland]

Kids thing. You sure?

[Narrator/Host]

Give me a wallet. You know, we might as well check the office while we're here. Ben, can I use your phone?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Judd.

[Narrator/Host]

Yeah. Right over there on the wall.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

You got change?

[Narrator/Host]

Yeah. Thank you. I have. City Hall 2572.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

2572.

[Narrator/Host]

Bunco fugitive. Brian. Joe Friday. Tom. Anything doing? Yeah, Joe, I think we might have a lead on those bunks working the obituary racket. What do you got? They reached a woman in Highland Park. Where are you, baby?

[Thomas Hyland]

Laundry.

[Narrator/Host]

Oh, well, it's a Mrs. Westerly. Her daughter was killed in an auto accident last night. They came around and sold the woman a watch her daughter was supposed to have ordered. Also a necklace and pen and pencil set. $250. Usual junk. Did you talk to this Mrs. Westerly? Yeah, we took the report. The man's description is mo the rest all match up. What's the lead? She watched the man when he left her house. Yeah, he got in the taxi cab. 10:30am While Sergeants Bryant and Ullery got out of broadcast on the suspect Ben and I drove to the offices of the cab company where we contacted the special agent. He helped us check the way bills for the preceding night. On the way bill for cab 213 we found the trip listed starting point the intersection nearest the Westerly home. Destination, a hotel on South Flower Street. We went to the hotel and interviewed the desk clerk. From the description we gave him he identified the man as Fred G. Norris from Minneapolis. At least that's the way he'd signed the hotel register. The clerk told us Norris wasn't in. We had him show us Norris's room. In his suitcases we found quantities of dime store costume jewelry monogrammed two dozen cheap wristwatches and wallets and handbags done in poor quality imitation leather. Also a portable engraving set. The clerk told us that Norris was expected back shortly after. We told him to say nothing to the suspect when he arrived. We called the office and arranged for a stakeout at the hotel and we drove back to the office. 1:00pm they told us Norris had been recognized from his description and picked up by unit 17R on the way back to his hotel. Shortly before noon, Ben and I joined Sergeants Ullery and Bryant in the interrogation room where they were questioning a suspect. He looked about 40 years old, white male American, about 6ft tall, 170 pounds. He would admit nothing. Bryant kept Questioning him? You're wasting our time on your own, Norris. Face it, you were playing a rough game and you lost. Now, how about it? You're gonna feel pretty silly when you find out you got the wrong guy. Who do you work for, Fred? You can do what you want about investigating me. You haven't a thing to hold me on. There's no use wasting any more time. You got that list of victims? Yeah, these are the ones that tab Norris.

[Thomas Hyland]

Thank you.

[Narrator/Host]

Couple more here, Joe. Thanks. Hello, Ms. Bergstrom there, please. Oh, this is Sergeant Friday, Ms. Bergstrom, bunko detail. Yeah, we picked up a suspect. We'd like to see if you can identify him. Would it be all right if we sent a card for you right now? All right, fine. Thank you very much. Bye. Look, I can't sit here all day. I have business to attend to. Glad Noise. He's on the phone. Hello? Ms. Cronin there, please. This Sergeant Friday calling. Ms. Cronin. Bunko detail. Yes, ma', am, that's right. I'm sorry to disturb you, but we have a suspect in custody down here. Yes, ma'. Am. Hey, Sergeant, could you come down the City Hall? Right away, Sergeant, Would you hold on just a minute, please? Thank you. Yeah, Norris, you got me. 58:00pm we informed the victims that the special show up had been canceled. And we called in a stenographer and had her take Fred Norris's statement. In addition to listing the crimes he committed, he also told us that there were six men in the Bunko gang besides himself. He gave us the names and descriptions of each one of them. He stated that they'd been operating in Los Angeles for the past four months. Norris said that none of them had ever met the leader of their bunco gang. The only contact they had with the leader was through one of the older gang members, a man by the name of Wesley Fisher. Before Norris was taken to Central Jail for booking, he gave us the address of the house where he had been living with the other gang members. Norris's information on the suspects was checked through R and I. We got one mate, Wesley Fisher. He had one prior arrest two years before on a grand theft charge. But he'd been released for lack of evidence. 3:15pm Together with Sergeants Ullery and Bryant and two men from metro Squad, we drove out to the address given us by Fred Norris. Turned out to be a neat looking bungalow in the West Hollywood area. Let's go. We can take the front door. Joe. Yeah. Say, Tom. Yeah? You want to have Johnson and Brewer cover the back of the place, please. Okay, Joe, Maury and I'll cover the side. Silent Bank. Let's go, man.

[Madeleine Smith]

Did you want to see the people who live there?

[Narrator/Host]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Madeleine Smith]

Do you want to check for the termites now? I'm Mrs. Callahan, the owner.

[Narrator/Host]

No, ma'.

[Thomas Hyland]

Am.

[Narrator/Host]

We want to see the tenants.

[Madeleine Smith]

I'm afraid you're a little late.

[Narrator/Host]

Is that so?

[Madeleine Smith]

They just moved out bagging baggage.

[Thomas Hyland]

You are listening to Dragnet authentic stories of your police force in action.

[Narrator/Host]

You'll be amazed when you compare Fatima with other long cigarettes. Buy a pack.

[Thomas Hyland]

You'll find Fatima's now cost the same. Light of Fatima.

[Ms. Bergstrom]

Ah, that's different.

[Narrator/Host]

What a difference. Yes, friends, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Quality of tobaccos. The finest Turkish and domestic varieties. Extra mild and superbly blended to give you a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette.

[Thomas Hyland]

Quality of manufacture, Smooth, plump cigarettes rolled in the finest paper money can buy.

[Narrator/Host]

Quality even to the appearance of the bright, clean yellow package, carefully wrapped and sealed to bring you Fatima's rich, fresh, extra mild flavor.

[Thomas Hyland]

Try comparing Fatima yourself. Fatima's now cost the same as other long cigarettes.

[Narrator/Host]

But your first puff will tell you. Ah, that's different. Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Ask your dealer for Fatima, the quality king size cigarette. Best of all, long cigarettes. Start enjoying Fatima tomorrow. Wednesday, December 15, 4pm we made a thorough check of the house which the six suspects had just vacated. We found nothing that would help us. We talked to the owner of the house where the suspects had been living. She told us that she'd rented the place furnished to them about three months before. She identified Wesley Fisher's mugshot, but she told us that he'd used the name of Charles Wilder. She also recognized each of the other gang members from the descriptions that Fred Norris had given us. She told us that while they were living there, the men seemed to keep odd hours and that they had a car. She told us that she'd taken the license number of the car the day the men moved in. The number was checked with DMV. It was registered in the name of Wesley Fisher. 1008 California Street, a transient hotel. The manager told us Fisher had moved about nine months ago. Was no forwarding address. We got out an all points bulletin on Wesley Fisher requesting that all occupational in his car be held for investigation of grand theft. Thursday, December 16th, 8:00am Ollery. Bryant, Ben and I met with Captain McCauley. Where are they getting all this junk they're palming off? Where's their source of Supply guy we picked up Norris, told us they brought a good supply of it out with him from the Middle West. That hotel room Norris had downtown, they were using that for a warehouse. They didn't want to keep the stuff at the house they were living in. How are they hitting any possibility of stakeouts? No, not unless we cover every name in the columns. You might have to try it. Something's got to be done. Look at these. Two more this morning, straight out of the obituary column. Took one family for $90, another one for 60. How about that last run through the stats office? Help you any? He pulled some more mugs for us. Gonna show them to the victims this morning. How about this, Norris? You think he's come up with everything? We were up talking to him again at county jail yesterday. Didn't have anything new. Skipper, we dropped in at the sheriff's bunko detail. They've got one new case, same mo Description comes close to one of the guys. The victim was the father of a Navy flyer lost overseas. He sold him a gold watch chain that his son was supposed to have bought him for a present. Solid brass, the sheriff's man. Got anything new? We've been working pretty close with him. Nothing new. Excuse me, Uncle Fugitive. Captain McCauley. I talk to Joe Friday.

[Thomas Hyland]

Oh, yeah.

[Narrator/Host]

Hold on. You Friday? Oh, thank you. Yeah, Joe, this is Judd. Can you meet me out of my place? What do you got? Named Wesley Fisher. Mean anything to you? 8:30am Ben and I drove out and met with Judd at his home. He was still in his bathrobe when he met us at the door. He told us he had an important appointment downtown at 9 o' clock and he was in a hurry. We talked to him while he shaved. Hope you fellas don't mind. Can't miss this date. Lining up some new business, you know. It's all right, Judd. Go right ahead. Yeah, I gotta move fast on these things before they cool, you know? Work the same with us, Judd. What's the story? Well, I don't know what's worse. Brother Max called me this morning. You remember my brother Max, don't you? No, I don't think so. Now he works the Pink Pad Bar in South Mainland. When you were in to see me the other day about those grifters you want, I gave my brother a tumble on it. Told him to keep an eye open. I hammered it tall. Will you? Oh, yeah. Here you go. Thanks. They're all steamed up. What'd Max come up with? Well, he's night bartender at the Parrot. You Know last night he spotted a couple of guys at the bar. Had some day old newspapers. Uh huh. They were sitting there with the papers. Turned the obituary column, checking off names, writing down addresses. Max is pretty sharp that way. Spotted them right off. Lousy razor. Does Max know these two men he spotted? No, not by name. But he knew the one of them lived in the hotel next door to the bar. The hotel night clerk come in for a beer. Max asked him about it. He tabbed one of the guys is Wesley Fisher. Did he have anything on the other man?

[Thomas Hyland]

No.

[Narrator/Host]

Clerk told Max he doesn't live at the hotel, but spends a lot of time there with Fisher. Had he seen Fisher and this other guy at the bar before?

[Thomas Hyland]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Host]

Max has been in before. Got lashed up a couple times. Mm. Say, would it be okay to contact your brother at his home?

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

Judd?

[Narrator/Host]

Sure we don't want to contact him at the bar. Yeah, sure thing. Get you the dress? Soon as I'm finished here. He just moved. I don't know. Hope I didn't get you guys out here for nothing. We appreciate it, Judd. Looks good. Seems to fit that hotel down there. It's the hang up. Con man angles are all there. Let's Hope Fisher is. 8:53am we arrived at the hotel on South Main Street. We checked with the desk clerk who told us that Wesley Fisher had room 37. As far as he knew, Fisher was in his room. We got a pass key from the clerk and went up to room 37 where we found Fisher and another man. He identified himself as Raymond Breen, one of the gang members identified by Fred Norris. We also found a small supply of cheap watches and pen and pencil sets in. Fisher's car was parked near the hotel, was impounded. We took both suspects back to the city hall. We questioned them separately in the interrogation room. Breen was first, but he refused to answer our questions. He was taken back to the squadroom and Wesley Fisher was brought in. Sit down, Fisher. Thank you. Guess you know why you're here. Oh, I haven't the least idea. All right, then. We'll show you. Do you know Fred Norris? Fred Norris. Name sounds a little familiar. Can't quite place it. He places you pretty well. He says he worked with you in Breen up till a couple of days ago. That so? Yeah. Says he lived with you in that bungalow out in West Hollywood. Nice. West Hollywood. When was that? Two days ago. Fisher, your landlady, identified your mug. She even had the license number of your car. What's it prove, gentlemen? Proves you're Lying? You and Breen work together. You did work with Norris. You're part of one of the filthiest rackets going. Gentlemen, you're making a bad mistake. No, no, there's no mistake, Fisher. Your picture's been identified by at least a half a dozen victims. Now, you can go on playing coy all you want, but we can prove that the pen and pencil sets that you sold some of the victims are identical to the ones we found in your car. I haven't any idea what you're talking about. Believe me, that's the truth. You wouldn't know the truth if it followed you, mister. Now look, maybe you're great at conning old men and young girls, but don't try to pass any of it here. Just a moment. No, you listen, you two bit thief. I couldn't begin to tell you off of the rotten things you've been pulling off in this town for the past three months. That young girl who lost her boyfriend overseas, that widow out in Hollywood, the old man in Highland park whose wife passed away. You must have felt pretty sharp cheating them out of a few bucks. Maybe you don't remember, mister, but we do. And they do. You're gonna pay for them. You all through? I'm through, Fisher. You're just starting. I have nothing further to say, gentlemen. You can talk to my lawyer. We'll give him your new address. Yes. County jail. Suspects Wesley Fisher and Raymond Breen were booked, transported to the county jail. Both of them were positively identified by the victims. Warrants were obtained for the three suspects, Norris, Fisher and Breen. They were arraigned and held answer at a preliminary hearing on several counts of grand theft. During the next two weeks and through the Christmas holidays, identical complaints of bunco operations continued to come in. Friends and relatives of lately deceased persons were still being victimized. The gang's operations continued as usual. There was only one change. The crime report showed that a woman was now operating in the obituary racket along with the male suspects. Christmas came and went. On New Year's Eve, Ben and I were assigned to standby duty. A few minutes before 8pm we got a call from the county jail that Wesley Fisher wanted to see us. Went to the 10th floor of the jail. The interview room. Not gonna take all the heat. They're in just as deep as I am. If they can't do right by me, I'll square it up myself. Tell you everything I know. Go ahead, Fisher. What is it? Her name's Betty McGraw. She's the one you've been looking for the whole idea was hers. She planned it out. She got everybody together. It was her show. Where can we find her? 213 Foster, apartment 8. Wesley Fisher gave a complete statement of all his crimes and also implicated the other members. He told us Betty McGraw was his girlfriend. She'd come up with the idea for the obituary racket. She gathered the men together for the job and it had been planned that she was to stay in the back room in case of trouble. She would furnish aid to the gang members in the form of bail, bond money and lawyers. She received a percentage of the take from each of the gang members. We checked her through R and I. She had a criminal history dating back 11 years. We obtained her mug shot 10:30pm we went out to the address Fisher gave us. A maid answered the door. She told us that the McGraw woman was not there. That she'd gone to a New Year's Eve celebration at a downtown hotel. It was 11:15 when we got there. We identified ourselves to the special officer at the hotel and showed him the mug shot of Betty McGraw. He thought he'd seen her at the main bar. We started looking. Sure do. Pack them in.

[Thomas Hyland]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Host]

Excuse me, please. Can I get through here?

[Thomas Hyland]

Thank you.

[Narrator/Host]

Sorry.

[Thomas Hyland]

Excuse me.

[Narrator/Host]

Hey, Joe, over this way. I think we can get through. Okay. Do you see her yet? No. They're jammed in there. I can't see a thing.

[Pierre Emile L'Angelier]

But.

[Narrator/Host]

Hey, wait a minute. Yeah. Can you see down at the end of the bar there? And a black wrist. Oh, yeah, that's her. Would you let her through here, please? Excuse me. Sorry. Right behind you. Is Your name Betty McGraw? Is your name Betty McGraw? Yeah, Betty McGraw.

[Madeleine Smith]

I don't know you. Who are you, anyway?

[Narrator/Host]

Police officer. We'd like to see you outside.

[Madeleine Smith]

This is where the party is, right here.

[Narrator/Host]

Let's go, lady.

[Thomas Hyland]

Outside.

[Madeleine Smith]

Is there a bar outside? I didn't know there was a bar outside.

[Narrator/Host]

Okay, Ben. Come on, lady. I don't know you at all.

[Madeleine Smith]

I'm not going. I'm not going to you.

[Narrator/Host]

There it is. Happy New Year.

[Madeleine Smith]

Happy New Year.

[Narrator/Host]

No use trying to get through this. We'll have to wait. Yes. Well, Happy New Year, Joe. Yeah, same to you. Maybe next year we'll have it off.

[Madeleine Smith]

I don't know why I always cry.

[Narrator/Host]

When I hear that song. No reason. I just cry. Yeah, Every year I play it and I cry. No reason at all. You got one this year, lady. Come on. The story you've just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent.

[Thomas Hyland]

On March 28, trial was held in Superior Court Department 93, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial.

[Narrator/Host]

Now here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you. In the past few weeks, I've asked you to send me the names of cigarette dealers who are out of Fatimas. You see, the demand for Fatima's is so great that I want to make sure that all of you can buy them. So keep your letters coming. If you find a dealer fresh out of Fatima's, let me know and we'll have something done about it. Write your dealer's name and address on a card and mail it to me. Jack Webb Post Office Box 951- Hollywood 28. That's Jack Webb Post Office Box 951, Hollywood 28. Now for you, Mr. Dealer. The coming holiday season will find new thousands insisting on Fatima quality. So step up your order for Fatima's tomorrow. Get in on the increasing demand for the quality long cigarettes.

[Thomas Hyland]

The remaining members of the Bunco Gang were apprehended and brought to trial. All of them, including the gang leader, Elizabeth McGraw, were tried and convicted of grand theft. They are now serving their terms in the state penitentiary. You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from the office of Chief of Police W.H. parker, Los Angeles Police Department. That's the show for this week. You can find more from crime classics Dragnet, Case Closed and all of the relic radio shows at the website relicradio.com our shoutcast stream is up and running there as well with even more old time radio. Lots to listen to do. All for free. Thanks to your support. If you'd like to help out, visit donate relicradio.com or click on one of the support links in the show notes.

[Narrator/Host]

Thanks to those who have.

[Thomas Hyland]

Thanks for joining me this week. I'll be back next Wednesday with another hour of Case Closed.