Let George Do It and This Is Your FBI

Summary

Case Closed! – Old Time Radio Crime Stories

Episode: Let George Do It ("The Brothers McIntosh") & This Is Your FBI ("The Skid Row Shakedown")
Date: April 1, 2026
Host: RelicRadio.com

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Episode Overview

This episode of Case Closed!, curated and hosted by RelicRadio.com, revisits two classic radio crime dramas:

1. Let George Do It (original airdate: April 3, 1950) – "The Brothers McIntosh": A tale of sibling rivalry, underworld grudges, and a deadly plot centered on the charismatic McIntosh brothers.
2. This Is Your FBI (original airdate: January 14, 1949) – "The Skid Row Shakedown": The FBI investigates extortion on the city’s seedy outskirts, probing how one crime breeds another until murder closes the loop.

Both stories showcase the unique style, suspenseful plotting, and distinct moral tones of vintage radio crime storytelling.

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Key Points & Discussion Breakdown

1. Let George Do It – "The Brothers McIntosh"

(00:54–27:32)

Premise & Characters

• George Valentine: Private investigator, whose help is requested by Jasper, a butler worried for his employer, Mervyn McIntosh.
• The McIntosh Brothers:
  • Mervyn ("the prince"): Beloved, big-hearted roadhouse owner.
  • Bill ("the sour apple"): Resentful sibling, disliked by many.
• Jasper: Loyal butler; worried someone wants to kill Mervyn.
• Fillery: An old enemy, recently out of prison, long held a grudge.

Plot Progression & Analysis

• The Call for Help

  • Jasper’s letter sets the case into motion, worrying that Mervyn, with his open-handed nature, is in danger.
  • "There's nobody who ain't [Mervyn's friend]. Except that is, of course, whoever there is that wants to kill him." (Jasper, 01:58)

• Setting the Stakes

  • There's a foreboding sense one brother is marked for death—either from outside enemies, or perhaps from within.
  • Harbortown's criminal past resurfaces: "They blew the lid off the place five years back. Sent a big shot named Fillery to the pen." (Lt. Devlin, 03:53)

• Bill’s Emotional Turmoil

  • Bill survives a car accident; is initially suspected of a suicide attempt.
  • "I mean, I've always hated my loudmouth brother...I let my own brother be murdered." (Bill, 09:31)

• A Web of Deceit

  • Fillery, presumed the would-be killer, appears to have gotten Mervyn’s car; a chase ensues.
  • A twist: Mervyn is found alive for a moment—only to turn up dead later, a murder victim after an apparent double-cross on a boat trip.
  • "He'd have offered the devil himself a cigar." (Bill, 22:43)
  • Investigation reveals the murder involved a planned boat explosion, with Bill trying to frame Fillery.

• Final Confrontation

  • George unmasks Bill as the true mastermind, manipulating evidence and almost escaping using Fillery's escape plan.
  • The plan is foiled in a memorable sequence where Bill is caught in traffic—ironically, stopped by his own brother’s funeral.
  • "How do you like that? Bill gets caught because he can't get by his brother's funeral." (George, 27:05)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Mervyn’s doomed generosity:
  "You reach out to pat a dog, and it bites your hand off." (Bill, 22:47)
• On George’s reluctant heroism:
  "Sure, I know I'm some hero, darling...Well, maybe it's the kind of guy I want to be...Not a hero, just a sucker." (George, 27:32)

Key Timestamps

• 00:54 – Case introduced via Jasper’s pleading letter
• 05:24 – Bill’s breakdown: guilt, hate, and a confession
• 13:59 – Shocking confirmation: Mervyn’s body found
• 22:39 – Bill revealed as the killer, with a suspenseful showdown and attempted getaway
• 27:05 – Bill's takedown, caught by the gravest circumstance—his brother's funeral

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2. This Is Your FBI – "The Skid Row Shakedown"

(31:05–56:12)

Premise & Characters

• FBI Special Agent Jim Taylor teams up with Police Sergeant Dick Blaine to probe a string of extortions and murder tied to the city’s downtrodden sector.
• John Fergus: "Scavenger" who capitalizes on personal effects of the deceased—leveraged for blackmail.
• Ms. Guilford & Arthur Guilford: Operators of a flop house drawn into the criminal underworld.
• Mrs. Calloway: Victim of blackmail, implicated through old letters.
• Clinton Lowell: Past blackmail victim, driven to suicide.

Plot Progression & Analysis

• Atmospheric Framing

  • Vivid description of "Skid Row"—the city’s forgotten men, breeding ground for crime born from despair.
  • "They are the streets to which men go when hope dies." (FBI Narrator, 31:56)

• Crime Chain Reaction

  • Personal letters are found among a dead man’s effects.
  • Fergus angles to blackmail Mrs. Calloway; the letters, if exposed, could ruin reputations.

• Investigation Unfolds

  • The FBI and local police piece together clues:
    • Tracing victims through mortuary records
    • Analyzing extortion notes and hunting down scavengers.
  • "Crime begets crime...That first misstep is often the beginning of a criminal career." (FBI Narrator, 47:04)

• Escalation to Murder

  • Confrontation between Fergus and the Guilfords turns violent; Fergus is killed.
  • Arthur and his mother continue the extortion scheme, only to be ensnared by Mrs. Calloway and the FBI.

• Resolution & Moral

  • The case is tied up using careful forensics (fingerprints, blood evidence).
  • The mother-son duo are prosecuted for murder and extortion—underscoring the perils of even small illegal acts leading to greater crimes.
  • "Although charged in federal court for extortion, Arthur Guilford and his mother were turned over to local authorities for prosecution of the more serious charge of murder." (FBI Narrator, 56:12)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the cycle of criminality:
  "Neither you nor anyone else can engage in the commission of a single illegal act and then decide to stop." (FBI Narrator, 47:08)
• On criminal glamour:
  "It is an odd fact that from the moment of a criminal's first illegal act, his best chance for survival rests with the strongest possible law enforcement agency." (FBI Narrator, 47:23)

Key Timestamps

• 31:56 – Atmospheric description of Skid Row; story begins
• 35:41 – The blackmailer's strategy: dead men’s secrets used as leverage
• 43:49 – Violent clash: Fergus is fatally attacked
• 54:21 – Mrs. Calloway under threat, sting operation set up
• 56:12 – Guilfords brought to justice, case summarized

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• "He'd have offered the devil himself a cigar."
  – Bill McIntosh (Let George Do It, 22:43)

• "How do you like that? Bill gets caught because he can't get by his brother's funeral."
  – George Valentine (Let George Do It, 27:05)

• "They are the streets to which men go when hope dies..."
  – FBI Narrator (This Is Your FBI, 31:56)

• "Crime begets crime. Neither you nor anyone else can engage in the commission of a single illegal act and then decide to stop."
  – FBI Narrator (This Is Your FBI, 47:04)

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Conclusion

This Case Closed! episode demonstrates why vintage radio crime stories remain compelling:

• "The Brothers McIntosh" explores family dynamics gone wrong, the dangers of misplaced trust, and clever (if cold) plotting.
• "The Skid Row Shakedown" pins personal tragedy to the grinding wheels of urban despair, showing how petty crime escalates to violence and how law enforcement methodically tracks down justice.

Both tales blend suspense, social commentary, and memorable character moments in the unmistakable style of Old Time Radio.

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Navigation – Key Timestamps

• 00:54 – Let George Do It begins ("The Brothers McIntosh")
• 27:32 – Segment concludes
• 31:05 – This Is Your FBI begins ("The Skid Row Shakedown")
• 56:12 – Case conclusion, moral summation

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For those who haven't listened, this episode delivers vintage radio suspense at its finest—a showcase of clever plotting, flawed heroes, and the satisfying closure of crime solved and justice served.

Transcript

[Case Closed Host]

This is Case Closed crime stories from the golden age of radio. Welcome back to Case Closed. I've got another 60 minutes of old time radio crime for you this week. But first, a quick reminder. If you'd like to help support this and all of the shows, visit donate. Relicradio.com or click on one of the support links in the show notes. You keep the mysteries coming every week. Thanks to those who have helped out. We're going to begin this week with let George do it and hear his story from April 3, 1950, titled The Brothers Macintosh. That's followed by this is your FBI and the Skid Row Shakedown. That story aired January 14, 1949.

[George Valentine]

Personal notice dangers my stock and trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you got a job for me. George Valentine. Write full details. Standard Oil Company of California, on behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and Standard stations throughout the west, invites you to let George do it. The Brothers Macintosh. Another adventure of George Valentine. Dear Mr. Valentine, I am a butler in a very fancy house. Though perhaps I ain't the usual type for buttling. My bosses are two brothers, the brothers Mackintosh. I've been with them ever since I was a busboy in the first cafe they ever owned. What a joint that was. But now they're a success so big it hurts your eyes. Bill McIntosh used to be cook and it must have given a sour stomach because there's a guy what hates everybody. But I mean everybody, and it's plenty mutual. Bill's brother, the sweetest guy in the world. This Mervyn Macintosh is a prince. A real gentleman with good words and a wide open pocketbook for everybody. Friends. I tell you, Mr. Valentine, there's nobody who ain't. Except that is, of course, whoever there is that wants to kill him. But how can you ever get a

[Brooksie]

man to admit he's in danger when he's so big hearted he'd slap the devil himself on the back and say, have a cigar. That's my problem and I need your help. Yours most sincerely, and it's signed, Jasper Butler to the Brothers Macintosh.

[George Valentine]

Sounds like he thinks one of these guys is going to kill the other one, doesn't it?

[Brooksie]

Sounds like he's crazy or punch drunk. Jasper Butler to the Brothers Met.

[George Valentine]

What's the matter, Percy?

[Brooksie]

George, the postmark on the letter is Harbor Town.

[George Valentine]

Oh, that's important.

[Brooksie]

Well, there's been something about Harbor Town lately.

[George Valentine]

Something?

[Brooksie]

This letter isn't crazy at all. I remember now.

[George Valentine]

It's.

[Brooksie]

It's something. Lieutenant Riley Was talking about.

[George Valentine]

Riley's out of town, Valentine, but I checked up for you. Thanks, Devlin. There's some kind of an investigation going on down there on the qt. Small town rackets of some kind.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Nothing to do with us here in Homicide.

[George Valentine]

A racket investigation, huh? I thought that happened years ago in Harbor Town. It did. They blew the lid off the place about five years back. Sent a big shot named Fillery to the Path. Fillery? Fillery. Oh, sure, I remember. Well, how about the name Macintosh? That mean anything? Cafe owners. The biggest roadhouse owners in the state. At least Mervyn is. He's got a sour apple brother, I guess. Kind of got pushed out of the business, you know? That's what I don't understand. What do you mean, Devlin? Well, these Macintosh boys got their start at the same time. Filler, he went broke same time he was.

[Arthur Guilford]

Well, go on.

[George Valentine]

Go on. Hey, wake up. Hey, Devlin, come back to the party. I'm here. I'm here. I'm doodling on the morning traffic report. Huh? 3:30am, Sugar Canyon Road, 1949. Convertible went over embankment. No explainable reason for accident. Single occupant. No, that's his brother. It's what? Hey, what are you talking about? You got a letter said this guy McIntosh might be killed here. Listen. Listen to this. Car rolled over five times, completely demolished. Single occupant only. Here's what I mean. Bill McIntosh. Oh, I get it. Wrong guy. What? Valentine? He lived through it.

[Bill McIntosh]

No. No, I don't want to see you. I don't want to see anyone.

[George Valentine]

Get out of here. Live steel, will you please?

[Brooksie]

Mr. McIntosh.

[Bill McIntosh]

That goes for you, too, Doc. I don't need all them bandages. Emergency hospital already slapped enough on you.

[George Valentine]

Mr. McIntosh, we. We don't mean to intrude, but your butler here, Jasper, tells me I can't see Mervyn unless I first see you. So you want to see me?

[Brooksie]

Well, that was the original reason for coming here.

[George Valentine]

But we. We don't like to bother you when you've just been in a house.

[Bill McIntosh]

I'm all right. I just got scratched up a little. Doc, you're all finished. You poked around enough.

[Brooksie]

I'm going.

[George Valentine]

I'm going.

[Bill McIntosh]

You too, Jasper.

[George Valentine]

Go on.

[Bill McIntosh]

Go on.

[George Valentine]

I'll show you to the.

[Bill McIntosh]

To friend of my brother's.

[George Valentine]

Sucker won't even send us a bill. Your brother seems to have lots of friends. Maybe.

[Brooksie]

But you're not one of them.

[Bill McIntosh]

Maybe. I know all about you, Valentine. Jasper told me about that letter he wrote you. He's an idiot.

[George Valentine]

An idiot? Yeah, well, he's worried about your brother. Follows him like a dog, the idiot.

[Bill McIntosh]

Anybody who ties strings around people or lets other people tie strings around them.

[Brooksie]

Mr. McIntosh, maybe the doctor shouldn't have left.

[Bill McIntosh]

Nothing wrong with me driving alone. Car flipped over. I was thrown clear. Scratches and bruises, that's all. I want to see you. I want to see anybody who hasn't been given a glad hand or a free cigar or a slap on the back.

[George Valentine]

Jasper out there is worried, but he hasn't caught on yet.

[Bill McIntosh]

You don't know what I'm talking about, eh?

[George Valentine]

Well, Jasper.

[Bill McIntosh]

Jasper thinks my brother Mervyn is just sleeping late today.

[George Valentine]

What are you talking about? Look, last night I answered the fun

[Bill McIntosh]

and then Mervyn came home and went out. And then afterwards I drove and I drove and I looked and I looked. I got more and more scared at what I'd done. Mervyn keeps a cabin cruiser down in the harbor, but she was anchored in the same old spot with no lights. I looked every place from the railroad station to sugarcane.

[George Valentine]

Wait a minute. Calm down, will you? Get back to that part. You got more scared at what you'd done. What had you done?

[Bill McIntosh]

Do you understand a man having enough to drink and being scared enough that when he sees a sharp turn coming, he just plain doesn't make the turn. Just lets the car go over.

[Brooksie]

Your accident. You mean you were trying to kill yourself?

[Bill McIntosh]

I mean I've always hated my loudmouth brother. Now, I was just excited and I had some drinks and I was scared and I. Maybe I did.

[George Valentine]

He is my brother.

[Bill McIntosh]

Abel and Cain, that's usually.

[George Valentine]

You better clear this up pretty fast, buster.

[Bill McIntosh]

Know how to take dictation, miss?

[Brooksie]

What? Oh, yes, I do.

[George Valentine]

Go ahead. A confession?

[Bill McIntosh]

Yes, a confession. The keeping quiet when I could have spoken and prevented my own brother's death.

[George Valentine]

His death? Yes.

[Bill McIntosh]

My brother, the great Mervyn McIntosh. Friend, everybody.

[George Valentine]

Well, he seems to have one enemy. A man named Filler.

[Bill McIntosh]

He lost his shirt when we came to this town. And apparently it wasn't just because Mervyn had glad handed him out of the nightclub business. Then Filler, he went to prison.

[George Valentine]

Why?

[Bill McIntosh]

Who knows? My brother Mervyn is honest, not a squealer. But for some reason, Fillery has threatened to kill Mervyn not once, but 50 times.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Hillary.

[George Valentine]

Go on, go on. Well, Philly was released from prison yesterday. Last night, a wire came to the house from a friend telling us about it.

[Bill McIntosh]

And that's where I fit in. While I'm sitting here reading that wire, the phone rings and a little polite voice says he'd like to see Mervyn out in a lonely place about some business, the voice says.

[George Valentine]

And then it happens.

[Bill McIntosh]

Mervyn comes home. I give him the message, but I don't show him the telegram he leaves. I don't tell him that that phony voice was really the voice of Fillery

[George Valentine]

waiting to murder him.

[Bill McIntosh]

I don't know why I do it. A couple hours I just sit there

[George Valentine]

and wait and sweat.

[Bill McIntosh]

But then I can't stand it any longer. So I go out looking and I find the meeting's already taken place. And all I can find out is that Mervyn's green sedan has been seen leaving the place. Filler I in it alone. Don't you see? I let my brother walk into a trap. I let my own brother be murdered.

[George Valentine]

Take a week to find Mervyn's party in all those woods.

[Brooksie]

It'll take you a lot longer than that to find Fillery.

[George Valentine]

Brooksie. Fillery did come in on the train and we confirmed the part about his making the phone call. And afterwards. The kid in the service station was pretty sure of the description. Green car driving away quickly up this road, George.

[Brooksie]

Certainly the police.

[George Valentine]

We got a head start on the police. We might as well use it.

[Brooksie]

George. I wonder why that butler Jasper wasn't at home last night.

[George Valentine]

Sure, sure, we'll ask him sometime. Hey, notice how the traffic funnels through just a few roads here? Boy, what a town this must be when there's a parade feller.

[Brooksie]

He's had such a head start and the highway patrol's already looking for him in the city and beyond.

[George Valentine]

Yeah. So suppose you hop on a bus and tell the rest of it to Lieutenant Devlin.

[Bill McIntosh]

What?

[Brooksie]

George?

[George Valentine]

Brooksie, the guy in a green car is supposedly running like mad across the country, only the trail dies in every direction. So maybe. I got an idea. I'm gonna take a little drive right around here. Up the country road right by the be. Oyster Cove and a green sedan parked right on the pier. What's your trouble, Bob? Huh? Oh, nothing. I was just wandering around. How's the fishing? I don't know. I'm looking at boats. Yeah? Yeah, sure. Some pretty ones. All right. Say, you didn't happen to see anybody getting in or out of that car over there? The green one? Yes, Bob, as a matter of fact, I did. Me. You? Me. That all right. I was talking to a guy named Bill McIntosh a little earlier and he said never happened to meet the man. Now, just slow down, buster. You're Fillery, aren't you? Is there a law against it? Whatever rotten branch of the law you spring from. But I assure you my parole papers are quite in order. Not so fast. Let go of my arm. Let go of it, I say.

[Bill McIntosh]

Get away from those steps here.

[George Valentine]

What's going on? Billery, stop that. Cut it out, both of you. A crew, huh? No, no, just Tony Young Fell. That helps me out. He's out there now getting the boat warmed up. Who are you, chum? What's your name? I think we can do without names on a hot day like this.

[Bill McIntosh]

Suppose you just run along, young man.

[George Valentine]

Sure you guys aren't interested in murder? In what? Murder. Well, if that's the case, perhaps I'd better. My name is Mervyn McIntosh. Now, what do you mean, murder? All right, so you are Mervyn McIntosh and you are alive. But how did Fellery get your car? Because I loaned it to him last night. I had to see about the boat. My cruiser out there. He doesn't need to know that. Oh, now take it easy, Filler. He's not a reporter. He doesn't need to know any of it. Cool off, buster. Hillary, please. Show you how I cool off. Look what you did. He was a nice young fellow. No need to. I'm in a hurry. Macintosh. I came to talk business. Frame member. Relax, will you? We'd like to find somebody to look after the boy. Leave them there. Business, I said. People should be friendly. Fix the boy. Comfortable? There we are. Now pick up your suitcase and we'll go aboard. We're going to be friends, aren't we? Here, have a cigar.

[Brooksie]

George, where on earth have you been?

[George Valentine]

Don't even ask me, Brooksie. We're all good suckers. Go, I guess.

[Brooksie]

But darling, it's practically midnight in the police.

[George Valentine]

I don't care what's been happening besides an ice pack. All I care about is getting my hands on that Bill McIntosh. That crazy hooked up story of his about his brother being in danger, being dead.

[Brooksie]

But George, listen to me. The police have been calling. Bill McIntosh was right.

[George Valentine]

What did you say?

[Brooksie]

The Coast Guard up near Oyster Cove. They just fished out the body of Mervin McIntosh.

[George Valentine]

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[Brooksie]

How.

[George Valentine]

Oh, George.

[Brooksie]

About the steamer Guadalupe.

[George Valentine]

The what? Go on, Angel. Foreign registry as far in as they come.

[Brooksie]

Three miles out and you're as safe as a steel. The freighter. So no questions asked.

[George Valentine]

When's she leaving?

[Brooksie]

This afternoon, 4 o', clock, pier 73. That's the other side of Harbor Town. So there's plenty of time.

[George Valentine]

Will somebody please. You finally persuaded me, Filler. He's the kingpin in this case, that's all. Devlin.

[Brooksie]

What if he'd really planned on killing Mervyn? Then he's also smart enough to have planned how to get away, how never to be caught.

[George Valentine]

Okay, tell me the rest.

[Brooksie]

Hillary had already booked passage a couple of days ago to sail on the Guadalupe this afternoon.

[George Valentine]

Well, come on, come on. What are we waiting for? Not so fast, Evelyn. Not so fast. Get men down there just before 4 o'. Clock. But in the meantime, lay off. Stay away from the place. Yeah, yeah, maybe you're right, Angel. You and I have to go pay a social call on the poor guy. That nobody likes. Habitat. Great bottleneck streets. Bottleneck murder case.

[Brooksie]

But they'll certainly be able to make Fillery talk when he shows up at the boat. What'd you say?

[George Valentine]

I said no, they won't.

[Bill McIntosh]

Brooksie.

[George Valentine]

This is the right street, isn't it? From Macintoshes.

[Brooksie]

Yeah, just up the block.

[George Valentine]

Hey, look, look. Just parking in front of the house there. My nemesis, the wild goose. I chased and let us park right behind. Good. That's it, Brooksie. Yeah, the green sedan. The special job.

[Brooksie]

Now, now, George, be careful.

[George Valentine]

Never mind. You stay behind me. But you're seeing you first jail in him. It's a 50. 50 chance, angel. And from where I sit, that's good enough. Well, hello there. Oh, hello. You looking for me, mister? Maybe I am. You had the car, didn't you? Well, yeah, sure, but. Wild goose, Angel. I finally remembered something Mervyn said about a one man crew. About a boy who was out warming up his boat. Well, that was you, wasn't it, buster? You're Tony, aren't you? Yeah, yeah, I'm Tony. Look, I've always worked on that poet only. Well, I. I didn't even know anything was wrong until I just read yesterday's newspaper and. And Mr. Marvin Loaney is caught. You mean you stole it, Tony.

[Bill McIntosh]

Hello.

[George Valentine]

No, no, I didn't.

[Brooksie]

Honest. Mr. McIntosh.

[Bill McIntosh]

Your brother said that I. His kids been in trouble before you.

[George Valentine]

Come on, kid, you tell it. Well, a couple of days ago, Mervyn came down to the boat at night. He'd had a meeting with some guy giving him the car.

[Brooksie]

Hillary.

[George Valentine]

Well, I didn't know who it was then. Just somebody who didn't want to be seen coming through the public pier at the yacht club, I figured. Anyway, Mervyn had slept on board that

[Bill McIntosh]

night and why didn't he call the house? The blasted, inconsiderate.

[George Valentine]

Look, I didn't think he wanted anybody to know where he was or what he was doing. Next morning, he told me to pull out and we went up the coast to Oyster Cove, where it's quiet to pick up the same guy.

[Brooksie]

It was Hillary.

[George Valentine]

Yeah. Yeah, they were going to go out fishing for a day or two. Fishing and talking, I guess. Only they didn't want me along. So Marvin, he said I could take the car for the weekend. Gee, he was like that, you know, always giving you everything. Like I used to be in trouble, see, until he hired.

[Brooksie]

Kid.

[George Valentine]

Kid. The police at 10 states have been looking for that green car for two days. Where'd you take it that they couldn't find?

[Brooksie]

It was in a garage, mister.

[George Valentine]

My. My girlfriend's garage. Gosh, it's the first weekend we've had off together in a. Of course I want to see Ms. Brooks and the Kid Valentine. And we have plenty of time now that our little party at the freighter's been canceled. What are you talking about, Devlin? You remember that little black suitcase you saw Fillery carry? Yeah. Well, something must have backfired with the jailbird's plan because the Coast Guard had finally located that cruiser. Come on, make sense, will you? It was dynamite. The cruiser had blown up. That's what killed Mervyn when something hit him and knocked him overboard. And guess what else, Valentine? You got another body aboard the boat. Yeah. At first I thought it might have been a deckhand, only now you'll have to check the fingerprints. Well, we have. It's him, all right. It's Fillery, the guy whose plan to blow up Mervyn blew right up in his own face. So there you are, Valentine. The end. Well, Bill, Hillary's dead. Big Wash, that is.

[Bill McIntosh]

Of course, I never met the man.

[George Valentine]

I wonder if your brother had him out on that boat trying to make a friend out of him.

[Bill McIntosh]

He'd have offered the devil himself a cigar.

[George Valentine]

Doesn't pay, though.

[Bill McIntosh]

Sooner or later, you reach out to pat a dog and it bites your hand off.

[George Valentine]

Yeah, I Know. I know you don't like anybody.

[Bill McIntosh]

I'm not apologizing.

[George Valentine]

I was wondering if you really did try to commit suicide that night. What's that? Well, it would have been so easy to push your car over the cliff and give yourself a few scratches and bruises and pretend that you've done it.

[Bill McIntosh]

Wait a minute, Valentine.

[George Valentine]

Oh, you don't, buster. Don't argue with a gun. I wouldn't trust you any further than I could throw a piano.

[Bill McIntosh]

You're not going to shoot at me. You're not going to kill me in cold blood.

[George Valentine]

Stand still.

[Bill McIntosh]

You are soft in the heart like Mervyn.

[George Valentine]

I told you to stand still. Hey, Jasper, get up here. Jasper.

[Bill McIntosh]

You see, I've got a gun, too.

[George Valentine]

And now you have it. What's the matter?

[Bill McIntosh]

Hurt your arm?

[George Valentine]

What do you think? I suppose when Jasper gets here, you'll just.

[Bill McIntosh]

The house is empty, Valentine. You sent Ms. Brooks and the kid away. And Jasper, he's a sentimentalist. He's changed his shirt by now and gone to my brother's funeral.

[George Valentine]

All right, sour pussy. Now, you were saying something, weren't you? No, it's the things you say. Like just now, you said that you never met Filary. I wouldn't have even noticed it if he hadn't told me exactly the same thing about you never met the man he said. So maybe it's true. Well, it doesn't quite fit with something you said in that ridiculous confession of yours. That you recognized the voice on the telephone the other night as being the voice of Fillery. You're a smart boy. So that guilty remorse of yours was all fake, wasn't it? That's a pretty good guess. You'll bet it is, buster. And I'll keep on guessing, too. You knew why Filler. He got sent to prison. Maybe even planned it. Sure, sure, you were trying to duck out before Fillery and your happy go lucky brother ever got together to check notes.

[Bill McIntosh]

But they got together on that boat

[George Valentine]

where you knew they'd be. Yeah. You're the one who made sure that boat'd blow up the minute they were on board. And then you cooked up the cock and bull confession stuff just on the off chance the murder might be blamed on Filler. Shut up. Why? You're planning to pull that trigger anyway, aren't you? Get rid of me and still try to get away with it. Try to get away?

[Bill McIntosh]

Hillary had a getaway plan, remember?

[George Valentine]

Well, who do you think really made that plan? Using his name?

[Bill McIntosh]

And who do you think they're expecting aboard that freighter?

[George Valentine]

At 4:00'. Clock. And now there's no welcoming committee. I want to know. Get every possibility covered, haven't you? Except maybe the clock.

[Bill McIntosh]

It's only 10 after 3. And Pier 73 is only just the other side of Harbortown. I'll make it all right.

[George Valentine]

How?

[Bill McIntosh]

You wrecked your car in your car, sucker. I haven't admitted anything, am I? I told you, I'm not crazy. There won't be any evidence. And you didn't pull the trigger on

[George Valentine]

me, so I won't pull it on you. You don't mean you're going to commit a friendly act?

[Bill McIntosh]

Valentine, I've never done anything in this world for anyone else. And I haven't asked anyone to do anything for me. My brother loved the whole town and vice versa.

[George Valentine]

And where is he?

[Bill McIntosh]

And where am I?

[George Valentine]

Turn around. It shows how much friends can do for you. Now you know what a guy like me can do.

[Bill McIntosh]

Just keep the useless strings off you

[George Valentine]

when you can get all the way to China. Get your thumb out of that horn, buddy.

[Bill McIntosh]

I'm sorry, Officer, but what's the matter with that man up there?

[George Valentine]

He won't move. I won't let him move.

[Bill McIntosh]

Can't you see there's a funeral going by?

[George Valentine]

Keep your shirt on.

[Bill McIntosh]

But I've got to get across town.

[George Valentine]

You idiot.

[Bill McIntosh]

My boat sails at 4 o'.

[George Valentine]

Clock.

[Bill McIntosh]

I'll miss the boat. I said cut it out.

[George Valentine]

Take your hand off of that horn. Hey, Joe. Joe, come out of here. Ah, some kind of jerk, that's all. Can't stand to wait for a funeral go by. Ever see such a crowd? We keep on all day. That Mervin Macintosh was quite a guy. How do you like that? Bill gets caught because he can't get by his brother's funeral.

[Brooksie]

George, are you sure you're all right?

[George Valentine]

The doctor said don't let the bandages scare you. Valentine, I don't want to say anything, but. What? What? Well, a guy who lets himself get beat up, knocked down, dragged. Look, you got your man. You even got a screaming confession out of him. What difference does it make how he was corralled? Take it easy. I didn't mean to. You want me to say I had him corralled? All I would have had to do was shoot. Why didn't I do? Sure, I know I'm some hero, darling.

[Brooksie]

Now, please.

[George Valentine]

Well, maybe it's the kind of guy I want to be. Devlin. Not a hero, just a sucker. Valentine, All I started out to remark was fearless Fosdick may stop a lot of people from eating beans. But me, well, me, I. I wouldn't have shot either.

[Brooksie]

Good for you, darling.

[Arthur Guilford]

Huh?

[George Valentine]

Hey, what is this? She's kissing. If your car drags along as though you were driving on a sandy beach most of the time it may be the fault of gummy gasoline which is robbing your car of power. A sure way to get that new car feeling is to use Chevron supreme gasoline. Most raw gasoline contains impurities that form power robbing gum. Chevron supreme is the gasoline that's super refined to remove engine sticking gum. So to get and keep that new car feeling, ask for this premium quality gasoline. See how it gives your car new power and full mileage in the kind of driving you do. Ask for super refined Chevron supreme gasoline tomorrow at independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations where they say and mean we take better care of your car. Tonight's adventure of George Valentine has been brought to you by Standard of California on behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the West. Robert Bailey is starred as George. Let George do It is written by David Victor and Jackson Gillis and directed by Don Clark. Virginia Greg appeared as Brooksie. Ted Decorcia was hurt as Bill, Larry Dobkin as Fillery, Ed Begley as Mervyn, Ed Peels as Jasper, Pat McGee as Lt. Devlin and Anthony Barrett as the kid. The music was composed and presented by Eddie Dunstetter. Your announcer, John Hen. Listen again next week, same time, same station to Let George do It. This is the mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System. Foreign.

[Narrator / Announcer]

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. All through the coming week, representatives of the Equitable Life Assurance Society will be busy answering their telephones. George Wakefield speaking, representative of the Equitable Life assurance society.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Say, Mr. Wakefield, I heard about that fact finding chart for fathers and mothers that the Equitable Society is offering on this is your FBI. Sounds like a great idea. Could you bring me one?

[Narrator / Announcer]

That's what's been happening every week since we started offering this fact finding chart

[George Valentine]

for fathers and mothers.

[Narrator / Announcer]

Listen carefully in about 14 minutes and you'll learn more about this famous chart created for you by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Tonight's FBI file, the skid row shakedown.

[FBI Narrator]

The face of America is freckled with cities of such beauty that they make you hold your breath when you first see Them New York on a spring night when the wind comes crawling through Central Park. San Francisco when the gentle fog wraps Knob Hill in a white blanket as a gift for the sightseer to take home. New Orleans when Canal street lights up with the gaiety they call the Mardi Gras. Those are just a few of the things that make a trip through our big city so memorable. But there are other places in our urban centers, other places not so attractive. Places like the Bowery in New York. Main street in Los Angeles. West Madison street in Chicago. Each has a different name, but they are all alike. They are the streets to which men go when hope dies. And when it makes very little difference to them whether they die, too. Tonight's file is about such a street and about some of the people who breathe its foul air. Tonight's file opens in the lobby of a cheap flop house located in the slum district of a large eastern city. A young man stands behind the desk as the front door opens and a visitor enters.

[George Valentine]

Good morning. Good morning.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Miss Griffith about, please?

[George Valentine]

Yeah.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Well, I wonder why I might see you.

[George Valentine]

Please, mom.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Oh, are you Mr. Guildford's son?

[Arthur Guilford]

Yeah.

[Ms. Guildford]

Well, well, what is it?

[Mrs. Calloway]

Oh, good morning, Ms. Guilford.

[George Valentine]

Good morning.

[Ms. Guildford]

Oh, hi, Mr. Fergus.

[Mrs. Calloway]

This young man was just telling me that he's your son. Why, I had no idea that you had any offspring.

[Ms. Guildford]

He's been away? Just got back.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Unbelievable. Unbelievable that someone as youthful as yourself should be the mother of a strapping boy this size.

[Ms. Guildford]

Cut the con, Mr. Fergus. What do you want?

[Mrs. Calloway]

Well, I. I understand that one of your guests passed into the great beyond last night.

[Ms. Guildford]

That's right. Man called George Pettis.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Have any of my confreres been here yet?

[Ms. Guildford]

No, you're the first.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Well, splendid, splendid. What room did Mr. Pettis occupy?

[Ms. Guildford]

31.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Will I require a key?

[Ms. Guildford]

No, the door's open.

[George Valentine]

Oh, thank you, my dear.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Excuse me.

[Arthur Guilford]

Who's she?

[Ms. Guildford]

A scavenger.

[Arthur Guilford]

Huh?

[Ms. Guildford]

Well, there are a lot of them down here. They get the word when any of these bums die and they come round, go over whatever stuff they left.

[Arthur Guilford]

What for?

[Ms. Guildford]

Maybe the bum had some moo in the bank. Maybe he's an heir. He might even have left some stuff that the Bumps family'd want. Sort that mailway, okay? Once in a while, they score pretty good.

[Arthur Guilford]

What happens then?

[Ms. Guildford]

I get cut in. Once Fergus got 300 bucks from a guy in Chicago. The bum who died was the guy's father.

[George Valentine]

What did you care, 10%?

[Arthur Guilford]

Very much.

[Ms. Guildford]

Oh, it is when you don't have to work for it.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Ms. Gilford. Appears that this was rather a fruitless visit.

[Ms. Guildford]

Ah.

[Mrs. Calloway]

There may be a few trinkets of sentimental value in Mr. Pettis's effects, but it may be a difficult pursuit finding anyone to whom they possess such value.

[Ms. Guildford]

Well, do what you can.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Oh, I shall. I shall. Good day, Miss Guildford.

[Ms. Guildford]

So long.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Oh, and Goodbye to you, Ms. Guildford. It was a real pleasure to have made your acquaintance.

[Arthur Guilford]

Yeah.

[Ms. Guildford]

Weird little guy, ain't he?

[Arthur Guilford]

Yeah. Mom, I think I'll take a walk.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Misses Kellaway?

[Ms. Guildford]

That's right.

[George Valentine]

How do you do?

[Mrs. Calloway]

I'm John Fergus.

[Ms. Guildford]

Hello.

[Mrs. Calloway]

I asked you to meet me here at the zoo because I thought we.

[George Valentine]

We'd be able to talk freely in

[Mrs. Calloway]

front of the animals.

[Ms. Guildford]

You said on the phone that you had something important to speak to me about.

[Mrs. Calloway]

That's right, Ms. Kellogay. I have.

[Ms. Guildford]

What is it?

[Mrs. Calloway]

Let's sit down on this bench here.

[Ms. Guildford]

Very well.

[Mrs. Calloway]

There we are. I have my wares in this briefcase.

[Ms. Guildford]

Your wares? Yes, yes.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Do you recognize the handwriting on this envelope, Mrs. Calloway? Ah, splendid, splendid.

[Ms. Guildford]

Where did you get that letter?

[Mrs. Calloway]

George Pettis, the man to whom you indiscreetly wrote so many letters, died last

[George Valentine]

night in a waterfront clubhouse.

[Ms. Guildford]

Oh.

[Mrs. Calloway]

He left nothing of value except your correspondence, sir. You see this return address on the envelope? That's how I was able to find you.

[Ms. Guildford]

Who are you? How'd you get them?

[Mrs. Calloway]

I am a friend of the weary and the dispossessed. I am likewise a messenger who links the past with the present. I frequent the cheap hotels here in town, and when I discover a deceased derelict, I try to let someone who cares know that he has gone to his reward. They have great pride, these ragged hulks, and because of that pride, they frequently destroy any evidence that might help to

[George Valentine]

lead me to their loved ones.

[Ms. Guildford]

And you called me just so that you could give me this letter that I wrote 15 years ago.

[Mrs. Calloway]

This and the other nine letters that the late Mr. Perris left among his effects.

[Ms. Guildford]

Oh, that's wonderfully kind of you.

[Arthur Guilford]

Thank you.

[Ms. Guildford]

Ms. Galloway, do you have the other letters with you?

[Mrs. Calloway]

Yes.

[Ms. Guildford]

May I have them, please?

[Mrs. Calloway]

I. I'm not quite ready to turn them over just yet.

[Ms. Guildford]

Why?

[Mrs. Calloway]

I've made you a gift of the

[George Valentine]

one you hold in your hand. However, the other nine are the wares

[Mrs. Calloway]

I have to tell.

[Ms. Guildford]

But they're only letters from me to George. They. They wouldn't be of any value to anyone else.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Not even to your husband. Mrs. Calloway, I. I admit that I'd rather not be forced to do business with your husband. But if you refused to buy the letters, I'd have no alternative.

[Ms. Guildford]

How much do you want for them?

[Mrs. Calloway]

I. I can't quite put a price on them yet.

[Ms. Guildford]

Why not?

[Mrs. Calloway]

Oh, there are factors to be weighed.

[Ms. Guildford]

When will you know how much you want?

[Mrs. Calloway]

Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. I'll drop you a line as soon as I've determined what the current market price is on Callaway Originals.

[FBI Narrator]

Meanwhile, at the local FBI field office, Special Agent Jim Taylor is just being greeted by a visitor. Police Sergeant Blaine.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Jim, it looks like we get to work together again.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

That's fine with me, Dick.

[Sergeant Blaine]

I was just in to see your agent in charge and he asked me

[Bill McIntosh]

to check with you.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Oh, it's a story.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Did you read about a Mr. Clinton Lowell committing suicide yesterday?

[Arthur Guilford]

No.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

I just saw the headlines.

[Sergeant Blaine]

He was being victimized.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

How do you know that?

[Sergeant Blaine]

In going over the files at his office, we found a series of notes from an extortioner that threatened him with physical violence unless he paid.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Which gives the FBI its jurisdiction. Right.

[Sergeant Blaine]

And we didn't discover what the extortioner knew about Lowell, but he referred to some letters that Lowell had written.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Letters that he wanted to sell back to Lowell.

[Arthur Guilford]

Yes.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Apparently the extortioner found them among the effects of someone who died. Someone whose first name was Justin.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

I don't suppose there was any signature on any of the extortion notes?

[Sergeant Blaine]

No. When I found them, I put them all in a cellophane envelope.

[George Valentine]

Here. Thanks, Dick.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Thought maybe your laboratory might be able to analyze the type and see if they can give us any help.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Well, I'll be glad to send them through for you.

[Arthur Guilford]

Thanks.

[George Valentine]

Any.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Any dates on these notes, Dick?

[Arthur Guilford]

Oh, yes.

[Sergeant Blaine]

That first one is dated about six months ago.

[Arthur Guilford]

Oh, yeah?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Well, then I think we can assume that this Justin something or other died right around that time, huh?

[Sergeant Blaine]

That's logical.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Well, if you died here in the city, the local board of health would have some kind of a report on him.

[George Valentine]

Yeah, they would.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

I'll check that angle for you.

[George Valentine]

Okay.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

In the meantime, why don't you go back and see if you can find anything else in the files at Clinton Lowell's office. Let's meet back here tomorrow afternoon.

[Ms. Guildford]

What is it then?

[Arthur Guilford]

You heard that guy Ferguson?

[Ms. Guildford]

Yeah. Came by this morning. Gave me 10 bucks.

[Arthur Guilford]

What?

[Ms. Guildford]

Pettis. Guy who died in room 31 had an old pocket watch. Fergus found some relatives and sold it to them for a hundred bucks.

[Arthur Guilford]

He clipped you.

[Ms. Guildford]

What do you mean?

[Arthur Guilford]

Remember, I walked out of here right after him yester morning. Yeah, I followed Him? He went to the zoo to meet some dame. Well, remember the briefcase he had? Uh huh. He opened it up, took out a letter. When the dame got a look at the letter, threw her for a loop. He talked for a couple minutes and then they both left. I tried to follow the dame, but she got in the cab and I lost her.

[Ms. Guildford]

What are you trying to prove?

[Arthur Guilford]

That he wasn't trying to sell no pocket watch. Where's Fergus hang out?

[Ms. Guildford]

He's got an office in the Miller Building, room 629.

[Arthur Guilford]

You know his phone number? Call him. Ask him to meet me here tonight.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Dick, I don't know how much good it'll do us, but I did find something.

[Arthur Guilford]

What, Jim?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

In checking the death records for the week previous to the date on that first extortion note, I found no man named Justin Gentry died in a flop house over the.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Did you go over there?

[George Valentine]

Yeah.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Dick, do you know anything about any of those scavengers who get a man's effects after he dies in one of those places?

[George Valentine]

Yes.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Well, one of them got Gentry's effects. Apparently he found some letters which incriminated Clinton Lowell.

[Arthur Guilford]

Oh.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Well, I didn't find anything else in Lowell's private files.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

This clerk down at the flop house I went to said he couldn't tell me which of the scavengers had gotten Gentry's effects.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Was he on duty at the time?

[FBI Narrator]

No.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

A clerk named Thompson had the desk that day, and he won't be back at the flop house until tomorrow morning.

[Sergeant Blaine]

And they didn't know where to reach him, huh?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

No, but I'm gonna stop by there on my way to the office tomorrow morning and see if this Thompson can remember who got his effects. If he does, Dick, we're in business.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Good evening, Ms. G. Good evening.

[Ms. Guildford]

Hi.

[Mrs. Calloway]

I am sorry I couldn't get here any sooner.

[Ms. Guildford]

That's all right.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Ms. Ferguson, has another of your guests cross the great divide?

[Ms. Guildford]

No. My son wanted to see you.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Your son?

[George Valentine]

About what?

[Ms. Guildford]

He'll tell himself. Come in the office. Straight through here.

[Mrs. Calloway]

You first, Ms. Guildford. You first.

[Ms. Guildford]

Okay. Arthur. Here's Mr. Fergus.

[Arthur Guilford]

Okay.

[Narrator / Announcer]

Your charming mother just told me that

[Mrs. Calloway]

you had something to discuss with me, young man.

[Arthur Guilford]

That's right.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Well, what is it,

[Arthur Guilford]

mom? He gave you 10 bucks for the stuff he got out of that pettish guy's room, didn't it?

[Ms. Guildford]

Yeah.

[Arthur Guilford]

You got shorthanded.

[Mrs. Calloway]

No. See here, Mr. Giffield, I resent your inference, Mr. Fergus.

[Arthur Guilford]

I followed you when you left here yesterday, made a phone call, and then you went to the zoo and met a dame. We showed her a letter. That you got out of Mr. Pettis room?

[Mrs. Calloway]

That's correct. Mr. Pettis had several letters in his room when he passed away. I thought they might be of value, but they weren't.

[Arthur Guilford]

Then why did you keep them in a safe at your office?

[Mrs. Calloway]

What?

[Arthur Guilford]

I went to your office this afternoon. Couldn't find nothing in your desk, so I opened your safe.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Mrs. Gilford, this is outrageous.

[Ms. Guildford]

Hey, don't go along with you, Mr. Fergus.

[Arthur Guilford]

Them letters ain't worth nothing.

[George Valentine]

You won't mind me keeping them, will you?

[Arthur Guilford]

I got them right here.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Let me have them.

[Bill McIntosh]

They're no good to you.

[Mrs. Calloway]

The only person to whom they have any value is the woman who wrote them.

[Arthur Guilford]

What's her name?

[Mrs. Calloway]

If you knew that, you'd be as smart as I am. And quite obviously, you're not.

[Ms. Guildford]

Well, it looks like you guys are stuck. Fergus, you know who wrote the letters, but you ain't got them. Arthur's got him, but he don't know who wrote them.

[Brooksie]

I want them.

[Ms. Guildford]

Arthur. You shouldn't have hit him so hard.

[Arthur Guilford]

Come on, get up.

[Ms. Guildford]

Hit his head against the leg of that table.

[Arthur Guilford]

Come on, get up, I said. Hi.

[Ms. Guildford]

What?

[Arthur Guilford]

He ain't breathing, huh?

[George Valentine]

Mom?

[Arthur Guilford]

I think he's dead.

[Narrator / Announcer]

We will return in just a moment to tonight's exciting case from the files of your FBI. But now listen, while the clock ticks away the next 60 seconds, we're going to ask you to give one minute of your time to considering something that may make a world of difference in the future. Happiness and security of your children.

[George Valentine]

That's worth a lot more than one

[Lieutenant Devlin]

minute of my time, Mr. Keating.

[Narrator / Announcer]

Then you'll certainly be interested in the equitable society's famous fact finding chart for fathers and mothers.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Certainly sounds interesting. What's it all about, Frank?

[Narrator / Announcer]

It's a chart that every father who really loves his family should have. A chart which shows him how to figure out just what income his family would need if he should die unexpectedly. The minimum amount of money his wife and children would require to maintain a comfortable standard of living. Do you know how much that would be for your family?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

No, I guess I don't really have

[Narrator / Announcer]

even a foggy idea. Well, in five minutes flat, this equitable fact finding chart for fathers and mothers will give you the answer.

[George Valentine]

Now, here.

[Narrator / Announcer]

See how simple and uncomplicated it is? You're guided every step of the way by easy to understand pictures. In no time at all, you know just what income your family will need to keep going and to keep together. During the critical years until your youngest child finishes high school.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

I'd certainly like to have one of those charts, Mr. Keating. How much do they cost?

[Narrator / Announcer]

Not one cent, Frank. They're free. Phone your Equitable Society representative and ask him to bring you a fact finding chart for fathers and mothers. Or send a postcard care of this ABC station to the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Your request will be forwarded to the nearest equitable representative. Yes. If you truly love your children, you will not let another day tick away on the clock without sending for the fact finding chart for fathers and mothers prepared for you by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. And now back to the FBI file. The skid row shakedown.

[FBI Narrator]

The loss of John Fergus from the community is not, as you can imagine, a devastating one. Nor would the loss of any extortioner constitute one to be mourned. They are the parasites of our civilization and not worthy even of our contempt. However, the death of John Fergus does serve to prove the truth of an axiom which has been repeated time and again in an attempt to bring it home forcibly to you listeners on this series of official broadcasts from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That axiom is that crime begets crime. Neither you nor anyone else can engage in the commission of a single illegal act and then decide to stop. That first misstep is often the beginning of a criminal career. The reason your FBI repeats that fact is that it knows that crime has often been portrayed as a glamorous occupation and that many first offenders took that wrong step because they were tempted by that false glamour. It is an odd fact that from the moment of a criminal's first illegal act, his best chance for survival rests with the strongest possible law enforcement agency. Or, as in tonight's case, if he succeeds in committing one crime without being apprehended, he will continue to commit others until finally he commits the number one crime. Murder. Tonight's file continues at the local FBI field office.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Dick, I think I found another piece of the puzzle. I stopped by that flop house this morning where Justin Gentry died.

[George Valentine]

Uh huh.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

I spoke to the clerk who was on duty when one of those ghoulish characters came in for Gentry's effects.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Did he remember which one it was?

[George Valentine]

Yes.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

It was a man named John Fergus.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Did the clerk have any idea where Fergus could be located?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Oh, he said he knew that he had an office, but he didn't know where. I checked with the phone company. They have no telephone listed under that name.

[Sergeant Blaine]

How often does Fergus come around?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Oh, Every couple of days. Oh, I've had an alarm sent out on him.

[George Valentine]

Good.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Oh, pardon me.

[Arthur Guilford]

Sure.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Special Agent Taylor?

[George Valentine]

Speaking.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Lieutenant Frederick's down at headquarters.

[George Valentine]

Jim.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Hello, Lieutenant. It's been a long time.

[George Valentine]

Yes, it has. Say, I got word you're looking for a man named John Fergus.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

That's right. What do you know about him?

[George Valentine]

He's just been found murdered. Mom.

[Ms. Guildford]

What is it, son?

[Arthur Guilford]

I dug up where Fergus lived.

[Ms. Guildford]

Good boy. How did you do it?

[Arthur Guilford]

Remember the gas bill he had in his pocket? Huh? One made out in the name of Jackson.

[George Valentine]

Oh, that was for his apartment.

[Arthur Guilford]

St. Kennel Street.

[Ms. Guildford]

You went there?

[Arthur Guilford]

Yeah.

[Ms. Guildford]

Find anything?

[Arthur Guilford]

Yeah. John was full of carbon copies of letters he wrote to the suckers. He was clever. He's the one we're looking for. Name is Mrs. Calloway.

[Ms. Guildford]

Let's see it. Dear Mrs. Calloway, with reference to the antiques belonging to the dear departed George Pettis. My current market quotation is $9,000. See why that little crook. And he was going to brush me off with a sawbuck.

[Arthur Guilford]

Mom, go make me some food. I'll figure out what we want to do with the nine grand we're going

[George Valentine]

to get from that Mrs. Calloway. Nick.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

I went to John Fergus's office. It had been rifle cleaned out. There was nothing there.

[Sergeant Blaine]

I wish we could come up with where he lived.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Oh, I already have.

[Arthur Guilford]

How Jim?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Well, I went to the morgue and looked at his effects. They consisted of some movie stubs, matches from a restaurant on the west side and a key.

[Mrs. Calloway]

Uh huh.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Was a new key. So I decided to go up to the neighborhood with a movie house and the restaurant were and see if any locksmith could recognize it.

[George Valentine]

I didn't work.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

So on a hunch I tried the doors of a brand new apartment house about a block from the movie.

[Sergeant Blaine]

And that did work?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Yeah, it paid off. The key opened. The front door of one of the apartments was listed under the name of Leo Jackson. Once I got inside, with the cooperation of the building superintendent, I knew I was in the right place. How? The apartment had been rifled too. You know, we may be able to find out who it is if we get lucky. At both the office and Fergus apartment this morning's mail have been opened and read IDENT is trying now to get prints off the mail. According to the files I found up in the apartment, Fergus has been in the extortion business for quite some little time.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Did you find anything on Clinton Lowell?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Ah, Fergus was the one who was shaking him down. I also found out the name of his latest victim.

[Arthur Guilford]

Who's that?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

A woman named Calloway. I found a sheet of carbon paper

[George Valentine]

and held it up to a mirror.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

He had written to Mrs. Calloway with an obvious reference to some letters that belonged to a George Pettus.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Did you find those letters?

[George Valentine]

No. No, Dick, I didn't.

[Sergeant Blaine]

Well, I think I'd better check and see if I can find anything on where this George Pettis died and who he is.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

All right, Dick. While you're doing that, I'll go up and see Mrs. Calloway.

[Ms. Guildford]

Hello?

[George Valentine]

Hello?

[Arthur Guilford]

Is this Mrs. Calloway?

[Ms. Guildford]

Yes.

[Arthur Guilford]

I'd like to see you this afternoon, Mrs. Calloway.

[Ms. Guildford]

Who is this?

[Arthur Guilford]

My name is Arthur.

[Ms. Guildford]

Arthur who?

[Arthur Guilford]

Never mind that right now, Mrs. Calloway.

[Ms. Guildford]

If you don't tell me your name, I'm going to hang up.

[George Valentine]

I'm a friend of John Fargus. Give me those letters you want. I see. You said to bring them as soon as you had the money ready.

[Arthur Guilford]

Got the money, Mrs. Calloway?

[Ms. Guildford]

No.

[George Valentine]

Better get it.

[Ms. Guildford]

I'll have to have more time.

[George Valentine]

Mr. Fergus Setting all stone today is when he wants the money. What time shall come?

[Ms. Guildford]

Well, I have to go to the bank first. Be here in an hour. Just a moment.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Mrs. Calloway?

[Ms. Guildford]

That's right. Are you Arthur?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

No, ma'. Am. I'm a special agent of the FBI. Here are my credentials.

[Ms. Guildford]

I see.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Do you mind if I ask you some questions, Mrs. Calloway?

[Ms. Guildford]

I know. Please come in.

[George Valentine]

Thank you.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Mrs. Calloway, in going over the effects of a man named John Fergus, we found evidence that he might be extorting money from you.

[Ms. Guildford]

I don't know anyone named John Fergus. Who is he?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

He's a man who was found dead down on the waterfront. Murdered. In checking on another case, we learned that Fergus was an extortioner and that he had written you a recent note.

[Ms. Guildford]

I've never received a note from him.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Are you quite positive?

[Ms. Guildford]

Yes.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

What had to do with some letters

[George Valentine]

that you had written he had come

[Lieutenant Devlin]

into possession of them. If Those letters exist, Mrs. Calloway, and if you haven't yet paid on them, it's perfectly possible that someone else has come into possession of them now and will try to extort you.

[Ms. Guildford]

I'm sorry I can't be of more help than this, but I don't know anything about it. Let's leave it this way. If anyone gets in touch with me, get in touch with you.

[George Valentine]

Thank you. Mrs. Calloway?

[Ms. Guildford]

Coming.

[Arthur Guilford]

Mrs. Calloway?

[Ms. Guildford]

That's right.

[George Valentine]

I'm Art.

[Ms. Guildford]

Come in.

[George Valentine]

Thanks.

[Arthur Guilford]

You know why I'm here?

[George Valentine]

Yes.

[Arthur Guilford]

With some money.

[Ms. Guildford]

Where's Mr. Fergus?

[Arthur Guilford]

He's busy. That's why he sent me.

[Ms. Guildford]

You're lying.

[Arthur Guilford]

What do you mean?

[Ms. Guildford]

A man from the FBI was just here. He told me that Mr. Fergus was murdered. That sort of changes things, doesn't it?

[Arthur Guilford]

No.

[Ms. Guildford]

Oh, I think the police would be interested in knowing that you now have those letters.

[Arthur Guilford]

Who would tell them?

[Ms. Guildford]

I would.

[Arthur Guilford]

It wouldn't save your neck. Before the cops get the letters, I'll have them printed all over town. Don't you want that?

[Ms. Guildford]

No.

[George Valentine]

Don't waste the money and that valise on the table.

[Arthur Guilford]

That bag, you mean?

[Ms. Guildford]

Yes.

[Arthur Guilford]

Is there 9,000 here?

[Ms. Guildford]

Yes. Now let me have my letters.

[George Valentine]

Sure. Here.

[Ms. Guildford]

Now get out. Get out, I said.

[George Valentine]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Lieutenant Devlin]

Hello, Guilford.

[Arthur Guilford]

Who are you?

[Lieutenant Devlin]

I'm a special agent of the FBI. Now turn around and step back inside.

[FBI Narrator]

Although charged in federal court for extortion, Arthur Guilford and his mother were turned over to local authorities for prosecution of the more serious charge of murder. Arthur Guilford was found guilty and sentenced to be executed. His mother was convicted as an accessory and sentenced to a 20 year term in prison. The reason Special Agent Taylor returned to see Mrs. Calloway is that a check at the neighborhood bank revealed not only that she had her account there, but that she had withdrawn $9,000 in cash that morning. The exact amount mentioned in the extortion letter John Fergus had written. Special Agent Taylor learned from the identification section that the fingerprints on the mail which had been opened in John Fergus office the morning after Fergus death belonged to Arthur Gilford. When an examination of the carpet in the office of Mrs. Guilford revealed a fresh blood stain and several hairs which the laboratory identified as having come from the head of John Fergus, both Mrs. Guilford and her son confessed. And thus, because of the swift cooperation of a local police department and the untiring investigation of a special agent, your FBI was able to close another file and to close it successfully.

[Narrator / Announcer]

In just a moment, we will tell you about next week's case from the files of your FBI. But now listen. With every tick of the clock, time, as they say, is marching on. So don't put off that important decision you made a few minutes ago. Be sure to get the equitable fact finding chart for fathers and mothers. It's the first step towards making certain that your wife and children will continue to live in comfort and security, even if you should be taken from them. Phone your Equitable Society representative soon or send a postcard to the Equitable Society care of this ABC station. Your request will be forwarded to the nearest representative of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States.

[FBI Narrator]

Next week we will dramatize another case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A dramatic account of the Bureau's effort to clear an innocent man. Its subject armed robbery. Its title, the Slapstick Hold Up.

[Narrator / Announcer]

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 Stein. The author was Jerry D. 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 societies representative in your community and advising you to tune in again next week at this same time when the Equitable Life Assurance Society will bring you another thrilling story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Slapstick Holdup on this is your FBI. This is abc, the American Broadcasting Company.

[Case Closed Host]

You can find more from Let George do it. This is your FBI. This podcast and all of the other Relic Radio podcasts at the website relicradio.com, our shoutcast stream is there as well with even more Old Time Radio and you can donate through that website if you'd like to help support us. Thanks to those who have thanks for joining me this week. I'll be back next Wednesday with Richard diamond and Barry Craig on our next episode of Case Closed.