Rocky Fortune: Pint-Sized Payroll Bandit 10/27/1953

Summary

Podcast Summary: Rocky Fortune: Pint-Sized Payroll Bandit (October 27, 1953)

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Episode Air Date: April 9, 2026 (rebroadcast)
Starring: Frank Sinatra as Rocky Fortune
Duration: Approx. 25 minutes

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Overview

This classic radio episode of Rocky Fortune—a gritty, wisecracking detective series—follows the title character, Rocky Fortune (voiced by Frank Sinatra), as he finds himself drawn into a case involving a runaway kid, a shoebox supposedly crammed with cash, and a shadowy payroll heist. Set in a seedy late-night diner, the plot throws Rocky together with a pint-sized "bandit," hardened criminals, and a caring aunt, mixing suspense, humor, and streetwise compassion in true golden-age radio style.

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Key Discussion Points & Scene Breakdown

1. Rocky Takes a New Job (01:09-02:00)

• Rocky reflects humorously on his rocky relationship with employment:

  “I don't know what it is about me and work that keeps the two of us from ever going steady, Eddie."

• He’s working as a night counterman at a lonely diner when a young boy, Mickey, enters.

2. Meeting Mickey—The Freckled Cowboy (02:00-05:22)

• Mickey, about nine years old, orders in diner slang and claims to have a shoebox full of "$50,000."
• Rocky quickly realizes the cash is fake, commenting:

  “The kid had handed me a hunk of Howdy Doody money.” (04:45)

• Noting the kid's desperation, Rocky discreetly tries to help and offers food.

3. A Kid on the Run (05:22-06:46)

• Rocky suspects Mickey is running away:

  “Things tough at school? Maybe your mom just doesn't understand you, huh?”
  Mickey confesses he has neither a mother nor a supportive home, hinting at a troubled family background.

4. Introductions and Interrogations (06:46-09:07)

• Anne, Mickey’s aunt, appears, worried and searching for her nephew.
• Rocky learns that Mickey’s family life is complicated—his aunt cares for him, but his father is abusive.
• At the same time, word comes in about a recent payroll robbery involving a small thief.

5. Enter the Hoods: Brock and Moose (08:11-09:07)

• Two thugs (Perry Brock, Mickey's father, and Moose) confront Rocky, menacingly seeking the boy.
• Memorable exchange:

  “You want me to hit him, boss?”—Moose (08:17)
  “Take it easy.”—Brock

• Rocky withholds information, taking a beating for the kid’s sake.

6. Rocky Hides Mickey and Learns the Truth (09:07-11:05)

• Mickey was hiding in the diner’s trash can.
• Revealed: Brock, the criminal, is Mickey’s father, deepening the boy's plight.

  “Now you know why I don't want to go home.” —Mickey (10:03)

7. Rocky Bonds with the Kid (11:05-13:47)

• Rocky takes Mickey home, reflecting on his own orphan past to comfort the boy:

  “I was an orphan. I didn't even have a father to run away from.” (11:45)

• The pain and loneliness of both, especially Mickey, are felt deeply.

8. The Stolen Shoebox and Suspicion (13:47-16:18)

• In the morning, Rocky discovers the shoebox is really full of genuine payroll robbery cash.
• Mickey, feeling betrayed as Rocky calls the police, pulls a real gun on him and flees:

  “All that stuff you told me last night... now you’re calling the cops to send me home.” —Mickey (15:07)

9. Criminals Close In—Danger at Anne's Apartment (17:16-21:04)

• Anne contacts Rocky for help.
• At her apartment, Brock and Moose ambush everyone, brutalizing Rocky.
• Classic tough-guy humor and irony:

  “This guy’s built like a Sherman tank.” —Rocky (19:29)

• Mickey, hiding under the bed, tries to help Rocky with a "gun"—which turns out to be a water pistol.

10. Climax: The Real Cops Arrive (21:04-22:29)

• The criminals almost execute Rocky, but Sergeant Finger bursts in, gun drawn:

  “Drop the rod!” —Sergeant Finger (21:51)

• It is revealed Mickey himself turned in the real payroll money at the station, enabling the cops to locate the gang.

11. Resolution & Epilogue (22:34-23:14)

• Mickey's dad is arrested.
• Rocky assures Mickey he can now live safely with his aunt:

  “From now on, this is your home. You're gonna stay right here with your Aunt Ann.” —Rocky (22:45)

• Rocky’s hopes of romance are dashed in a final comedic twist:

  “You mean she's married?” —Rocky
  “Yeah. You hoard, huh?” —Mickey (23:10)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rocky's Self-Deprecating Humor:
  • “I've been running all my life. Get restless, quit a job, get restless, take a job. It adds up to a big, fat goose egg.” (12:15)
• On Fake Money:
  • “I was just admiring the lifelike engraving here of President Howdy Doody.” (04:46)
• Mickey Shows His Tough Side:
  • “I got a gun in my pocket and I’ll shoot you.” (04:23)
• Compassion in Hard Circumstances:
  • “Lots of people get a raw deal from life... You take me. I was an orphan.” (11:45)
• Comic Relief in Peril:
  • “You always have your visitors greeted this way, Anne?” (18:54)
  • “You mean she's married?... I hide. Good night.” (23:10-23:14)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:09 — Rocky introduces his new job and meets Mickey
• 04:46 — Discovery of “Howdy Doody” counterfeit money
• 08:11 — Brock and Moose’s first threatening entrance
• 10:11 — Mickey reveals his relationship to Brock
• 11:45 — Rocky discusses his own painful childhood
• 14:56 — Discovery of real payroll heist money
• 15:05 — Mickey pulls a gun on Rocky
• 18:37 — Smash cut to Anne’s apartment; gangsters attack
• 21:09 — Water pistol revelation
• 21:51 — Sergeant Finger's timely rescue
• 22:34 — Mickey comes out of hiding
• 23:08 — Rocky learns Aunt Anne is married

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains a snappy, streetwise tone imbued with humor, pathos, and a dash of romance. Rocky’s dialogue is filled with quick-witted wisecracks, even in tough moments, while the script balances suspense with the human impact of crime—focusing on a lonely kid’s need for belonging and a “tough guy” detective’s reluctant tenderness.

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Conclusion

Pint-Sized Payroll Bandit delivers a classic detective tale: action, heart, and humor, undercut with social awareness—a signature of Frank Sinatra’s Rocky Fortune. The episode explores the cost of toughness, the pain of abandonment, and the redemptive power of even small acts of kindness, with Sinatra’s signature mix of sardonic charm and sympathy for the underdog.

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For more Golden Age detective adventures, listen daily to Choice Classic Radio Detectives!

Transcript

[Choice Classic Radio Announcer]

Welcome to Choice Classic Radio where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube and thank you for [e-mail]

[Narrator/Announcer]

Now Frank Sinatra transcribed as Rocky Fortune. NBC presents Frank Sinatra starring as that footloose and fancy free young gentleman, Rocky Fortune.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Hi. I don't know what it is about me and work that keeps the two of us from ever going steady, Eddie. But sometimes I just get restless and I quit a job. And then again, sometimes I get restless and I take one. This time I took one night counterman at an all night Hamburg diner. The diner was located on the lower west side, right between a saloon and a dance hall. Those who liked weak drinks went to the saloon and those who liked strong women went to the dance joint. Nobody came to the diner. Nobody but trouble. Trouble was a nine year old cowboy with freckles and a shoebox under his arm. And it was around midnight on a miserable night when the door popped open and he popped in. How do you do? What'll be, partner?

[Mickey (the kid)]

One wimp. He drowned.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

How's that?

[Mickey (the kid)]

One wimpy. Drown it. A hamburger with ketchup.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Oh, excuse me, kid. I'm still new at this job. I sling the hash but not the lingo. Okay, one wimpy coming up.

[Mickey (the kid)]

And drown it.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Right. Oh, we'll drown it. What's a kid like you doing out this late on a rainy night?

[Mickey (the kid)]

I'm just coming back from a friend's house.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

What was it, an all night pinochle game? How old are you anyway, son? Eight.

[Mickey (the kid)]

I'm nine.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Nine?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Well, going on nine.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Oh, pardon me. How about a glass of milk while you're waiting?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Okay.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You got any money?

[Mickey (the kid)]

See this shoebox?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Yep.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Know what's in it?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Shoes.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Money. $50,000.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Yeah. Well, that's a nice safe place to hide it, kid. Only you go around walking with that much dough in your shoes and you're gonna be 10ft tall. Hey, here's your hamburger.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Thanks. You forgot to drown it.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

What?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Ketchup.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Oh yeah, the ketchup. Here. Yeah, slow down. Take it. When did you eat last anyway?

[Mickey (the kid)]

This morning.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I guess you'll be wanting another burger then.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Mm.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Coming up. Where do you live, kid?

[Mickey (the kid)]

No place.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You wouldn't be on the lam, would you? Running away from home? I guess I guessed it. Things tough at school? Maybe your mom just doesn't understand you, huh?

[Mickey (the kid)]

I got no mom.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Oh, you got a pop?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Yeah, I got a pop.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

What's his name?

[Mickey (the kid)]

None of your business.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Okay, okay. You're a citizen. You don't have to answer. How about another milk? Where you headed?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Boat.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Any special boat?

[Mickey (the kid)]

One that's going far away.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Boats cost a lot of money.

[Mickey (the kid)]

I got a whole shoebox full of money.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Oh, sure, I forgot. That's right. You're loaded with loot.

[Mickey (the kid)]

How much do I owe you?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Forget it.

[Mickey (the kid)]

I can pay you.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Now, look, kid, it's a cold, wet night. This is a bad neighborhood. Why don't you go home and run away some other time?

[Mickey (the kid)]

I can't go home.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You just think you can't. It don't help to run away, kid. I'm an expert. I've been running all my life.

[Mickey (the kid)]

I can't go home.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I'll call a friend of mine who's a cop and he'll take me.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Get away from that telephone, mister. I got a gun in my pocket and I'll shoot you.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Oh, I didn't know you were a desperado. Who is it? Billy the Kid or Jesse James?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Just tell me how much and I'll get out of here.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Hamburger. Two glasses at 40 cents.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Okay. Here's a dollar. Keep the change.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Thanks, I. Well, what do you know?

[Mickey (the kid)]

What's the matter?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Nothing. Not a thing, kid. I was just admiring the lifelike engraving here of President Howdy Doot. Yep. The kid had handed me a hunk of Howdy Doody money. But I make like it's the real stuff and ring it up. He starts to climb down off the seat hanging onto his small shoebox full of Howdy Doody dough like his life depended on it. All of a sudden he looks awful small and scared. It reminds me of the way I must have looked myself when I took off from the orphan home at the advanced age of 10 years.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Well, I gotta be shoving off, Slope.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Thanks for the tip. Oh, a kid.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Yeah.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You know, if you got a long boat ride ahead of you, you ought to take some food along. Why don't you wait here a minute? I'll see if we got some donuts back in the kitchen.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Well, okay, but no tricks. I got a gun in my pocket.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Sure, no tricks. I'll be right back. Here. You can listen to the radio while I'm out. Hello, operator? Give me the 21st Precinct, huh? Hello, is Detective Sergeant Finger there? Yeah. Hello, Finger. This is Rocky. Rocky Fortune. Listen, I got a scared young kid down here at the Oasis Diner on Fleet Street, a runaway. You send somebody down to pick him up. I can't leave the joint. Yeah, sure, I'll stall him. Thanks, sergeant. I hang up and Go out front again when I get there. Junior's disappeared. And in this place is a young dame about 22 with a figure like the before and after ads. Only she's after, if you know what I mean. When I get around to it. I see she's got a nice face too.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Pardon me.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Pardon me.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Well, you haven't done anything.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I'd love to. What'll it be?

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

I'd like to ask you a question.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I'd like to ask you one too.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Have you seen a little boy, about nine?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

That isn't the question I had in mind, but it still goes. Have you seen one?

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Honey, please, I'm serious.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

So am I. There was a kid here a few minutes ago. Did you see him? No.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Was he a little boy with freckles and reddish hair?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

That's the boy. A pocket size Arthur Godfrey. You a relative?

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

I'm his aunt. Please. Where did he go?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I told you, he disappeared.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Well, did he say where he was going?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Out of Mongolia, I think. What's the story on him?

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Well, he ran away from his boarding school. He stopped at his father's house early this evening to get some things, and then he just disappeared.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

How did you track him down here?

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Well, I located a taxi driver who dropped him off at the corner. Since this is the only place open at this hour, I thought you might have seen him.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

How come his pop didn't notify the cops?

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Well, I. I thought he had. Don't you have some idea which way he went?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You might try the waterfront. He mentioned hopping a boat.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Oh, thank you.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Say, it's no neighborhood for a pretty girl alone.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

I can take care of myself, Mr. Fortune.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Call me Rocky.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Mr. Fortune.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

If you wait till I close up, I'll. I'll.

[News Reporter]

Nothing concerning the hold up of the shoe company payroll last night. Police still have no clue as to the identity of the four men who stole the money. They wore Halloween masks. The smallest seemed to be the leader.

[Sergeant Finger]

And in all points bulletin has been

[News Reporter]

broadcast by the police in an effort

[Sergeant Finger]

to prevent getting beyond.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I heard. Step over here. What is this?

[Sergeant Finger]

You hoard?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Okay.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

I'm looking for a kid, nine years

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

old, freckles, red hair. Who isn't?

[Sergeant Finger]

You want me to hit him, boss?

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Take it easy, Moose. You seen him?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

What have I have.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

You'll tell me.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Suppose I don't feel like.

[Sergeant Finger]

Okay, boss.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Okay.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Ooh.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Well, okay. He was here and he left.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Did he have anything with him?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Just an old shoebox. Which way to go? How should I know?

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Maybe you saw.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I didn't. Now, how about taking your gorilla and getting out of here.

[Sergeant Finger]

Can I hit him, Boss?

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Take it easy. Did he say anything, anything happened while he was here?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

He said he was running away from home. A dame comes in and she says she's his aunt. I told her I didn't know where he was. That's all. That's all. You sure? I said that's all, Moose. Boss. Make sure. Okay.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Still sure?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I'm sure. Well, I told you he's sure.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Come on, Moose.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Thanks, Buck. My stomach feels like I've been kicked by an army mule. So I hang on to the counter till the blue wheels stop going around. Then I go behind the counter to clean up for the night. I hear a noise which seems to be coming from inside a big trash can we keep there and I figure we got mice again. So I open it and the mice is a small boy with a shoebox and a face full of half eaten custard pie. Okay, kid, come out of the pail.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Are they gone?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You've been in there all that time?

[Mickey (the kid)]

I hit her when I heard someone come.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Did you hear those two hoods?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Uh huh.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You want to tell me why those roughnecks were after you?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Well, the big one, Moose, he's a hired muscle.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Muscle?

[Mickey (the kid)]

You know, a gunman, a fiddler. The little one, he's Perry Brock.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Brock? Yeah, he's one of the old Murder Consolidated boys, isn't he?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Uh huh. Now you know why I don't want to go home.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I don't follow, son. What's Perry Brock to you?

[Mickey (the kid)]

My father.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Oh, you got a lot of trouble.

[Mickey (the kid)]

So you see, if you call the cops and they send me home, you'll just beat me up and send me back to the boarding school again.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Yeah, I guess he would.

[Mickey (the kid)]

So I better get going, mister.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Call me Rocky.

[Mickey (the kid)]

My name's Mickey.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Hold it, Mick. Here comes the law.

[Mickey (the kid)]

I'll duck out the back.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You can get back in the garbage can. I'll get rid of him. Well, hiya, Sergeant.

[Sergeant Finger]

So where's the kid?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

The kid? Oh yeah, or the kid. He took off, vanished.

[Sergeant Finger]

You don't say.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Just like that, poof.

[Sergeant Finger]

You couldn't call up the precinct and say, sergeant Finger, don't bother walking over here on your tired feet on which you've been standing all day. The kid is gone. You couldn't do that.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Well, I tried to get you, but the line was busy. Here, have a cup of coffee and a hamburger on the house.

[Sergeant Finger]

You trying to bribe an officer?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Huh?

[Sergeant Finger]

Make it a double hamburger with an onion.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Two double hamburgers. And a pecan ring. Later I get rid of Sergeant Finger of the mounted and get the kid out of the garbage can. He smells like an old gymnasium. But I can't figure anything else except to take him in his shoebox home with me, which I do. I let him soak for a few hours and put him in my bed while I make like GI Joe on the Broadland. About 10 minutes after I fall asleep. Mickey. Hey, Mickey. What is it, kid? What's the matter?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Nothing.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Just crying to irrigate the freckles, huh?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Leave me alone.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I know how you must feel.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Mick, nobody knows how I feel.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

That's not true, kid. Lots of people get a raw deal from life. You take me. I was an orphan. I didn't even have a father to run away from.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Maybe you're lucky.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You don't get much love from a paid matron who has to divide it up among 150 lonely kids.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Sounds like a boarding school.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Yeah. Sometimes I used to lay in bed wanting to cry so bad, I thought I'd bust wide open.

[Mickey (the kid)]

That's how I feel sometimes.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

So I ran away, too, just like you, only didn't help. I was twice as lonely, and there was nobody to cry to. I've been running all my life. Get restless, quit a job, get restless, take a job. It adds up to a big, fat goose egg.

[Mickey (the kid)]

I don't care. I'm gonna be tough.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Sure. You live in a jungle, you gotta be tough. But running away, that ain't tough. Kid, why don't you go home to your dad?

[Mickey (the kid)]

I can't.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Why not?

[Mickey (the kid)]

He don't want me. He never wanted me. He never even lived with me and Mom.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Never.

[Mickey (the kid)]

After mom died, I. I lived with my Aunt Annie, Mom's sister. But then she and dad had a big fight and he sent me away to boarding school.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You like your aunt?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Yeah, she's okay.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

That's how she looked to me. Well, suppose we call her.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Nah. Dad would just come and get me again. He ain't much good.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Rocky, I hate to hear you say that, but I guess maybe you're right, kid. Let's get some sleep, and we'll talk about it in the morning. Here, Blow. Atta boy. Pull the COVID over you. Good night, kid.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Rocky.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Mm?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Could I stay with you? Maybe we could both be orphans together, huh?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

No, I'm afraid not, kid.

[Mickey (the kid)]

I could get a job. I'm strong, honest, and I got plenty of money. Enough for both of us. More than $50,000. I wouldn't be much trouble, Rocky. Honest.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

We'll Talk about in the morning, huh? Let's get some sleep. Good night, Mickey.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Good night, Rock.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I don't get very much sleep. I'm thinking about this poor kid with his box full of howdy duty money and what I'm gonna do about him. It's early in the morning when I quit trying to sleep and get up to make us a breakfast. I almost fall on my face tripping over the shoebox. My foot goes through the COVID and I pick it up to tie it again. Five seconds later, I'm burning up the telephone switchboard operator. Give me the 21st Precinct. Yeah, hello, Sergeant Finger. Still on duty? Uh huh. Sarge, this is Rocky. Now listen to me. I got that kid again. He's asleep in my room. Yeah, not only that, but he's got a shoebox with enough government folding money in it to choke a dinosaur. I'm not dreaming. Saj, get over here, will you? 25 Bleekman.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Okay, okay. Put your hands up.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Hey, wait a minute.

[Mickey (the kid)]

This is a real gun, Rocky, and it's loaded, so get him up.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Now. Be careful with that thing.

[Mickey (the kid)]

You're some, pal. All that stuff you told me last night, how you knew what it was like. Now you're calling the cops to send me home.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Mickey, listen to me. It's wrong what you're doing.

[Mickey (the kid)]

You said you gotta be tough or I'm gonna be tough.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I didn't mean tough that way. If you took that money from someplace, give it back. Give it to the cops and give them that gun before you get hurt.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Not me. I'm gonna be tough.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You're gonna wind up like your old man. Mickey. He's tough too. The wrong kind of tough. Come on. Now wait here for this detective friend of mine.

[Mickey (the kid)]

I ain't going to no police station.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Look, in case you don't know it, kid, there's nobody lives it up like a lost kid in a police station. Honest. They put you up on a desk. They buy ice cream cones, double dips. They read your comic books, take your picture wearing a copper's hat.

[Mickey (the kid)]

And then my pop comes and takes me home and beats me up. Rocky, I'm getting out.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Okay, Mick. Good luck.

[Mickey (the kid)]

You said when you live in a jungle, you gotta be tough. Well, I'm. I'm gonna be tough. I'm gonna be tougher than anybody.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I'm just beginning to wonder if little Mick Mickey Brock hadn't held up a payroll wagon himself when the doorbell rings. It is my good friend, Sergeant Finger. Right on time.

[Sergeant Finger]

Okay, Fortune, where is he?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Yeah, well, I'll tell you, Sarge, it's like this. I found the money inside the shoebox, see. And I turn around and the kid's got a real tough looking automatic pointed right at my bread basket.

[Sergeant Finger]

Now hold it. And you just let me figure it out real slow like the kid ain't here, right?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Right.

[Sergeant Finger]

And the box with the money in it, that's disappeared too, right?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Right.

[Sergeant Finger]

Now, how about the laughing gas? Is that gone too? You just have these hallucinations on soda pop. Now you look, Fortune, this is the second time you got me out on a wild goose chase. You ever read the story of the boy who cried wolf? Well, you're him, see? And the next time you want a cop, don't bother to call. I ain't coming. You understand that, Fortune? Don't call us, we'll call you.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I am still standing there like a boy with egg on his face when the telephone rings. Yeah?

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Mr. Fortune? Yeah, this is Anne Preis, Mickey's aunt.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Good morning.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

I thought perhaps you might have seen Mickey again last night.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

How did you get my phone number?

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

I called the diner. The day cook gave it to me.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Well, as a matter of fact, lady, I did see him. He slept here last night.

[Mickey (the kid)]

What?

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Oh, where is he now?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Search me. He took off again.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

We've got to find him.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Look, he don't want to be found. He wants to be lost.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

His father thought he might have come to my place for some reason. He's half frantic.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I'll bet he is.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Since you know what he looks like, could you help me look for him?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

This is my day off. Lady, please.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Mr. Fortune.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Yeah? Where do you live?

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

15 South Place, apartment 5B.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Part of your nose, baby. I'll be right over. I invest 15 cents in the city subway system and then foot my way to South Place. Number 15 is a quiet apartment with a self service elevator. I lean on the buzzer on 5B. No answer. I try the knob and the door swings open. I walk into a nicely furnished apartment smelling faintly of perfume. I'm about to call for Annie Pie when I hear a faint noise behind me. And what feels like the muzzle of an 88 comes crashing down on my skull.

[Sergeant Finger]

On your feet, punk. You hurried up.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Rocky, are you all right?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Let him alone.

[Sergeant Finger]

Shut up.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Oh, well, well, if it isn't Dick, the fun loving rover boy.

[Sergeant Finger]

Should I hit him, boss?

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Restrain yourself, Moose.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You always have your visitors greeted this way, Anne.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

They forced their way in a few minutes after I called you.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Nice fellas.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Flattery will get you no place, Fortune.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Where's the boy? Here we go again.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

And tells me he stayed at your place last night.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

He couldn't get a hotel room. This convention in town.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Very amusing. I thought you said you didn't know where he was.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I didn't. I found him in the garbage pail.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Now, boss, you're a very funny man. Fortune, Moose, take him in the bedroom and work him over.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Gladly.

[Sergeant Finger]

Get going, you.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Oh, and Moose.

[Sergeant Finger]

Yeah?

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Don't kill him.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Moose shoves me into the bedroom and closes the window to the fire escape. Then he closes the door and he closes my left eye. And then he closes my right eye. I managed to get in a couple of wild punches of my own. But this guy's built like a Sherman tank. After a couple of sets, I'm beginning to feel like a lump of fresh dough in a French bakery. Moose measures me for a haymaker and I do a pirouette. Three tours, a arabesque, and then a swan dive for the carpet. I hug the rug for a minute and I managed to get one eye partly open. I discover I am looking into another eye and it is not my own. It belongs to a scared freckle face. Which looks out at me from under the bed in his hot little hand. The kids got a gun which he's pushing at me. I take it and straighten up. Okay.

[Sergeant Finger]

Melon had one more.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Hey, hey, hey. Get him up and shut up.

[Sergeant Finger]

Hey, where'd you get the run?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Never mind. Don't make a sound. Back up.

[Sergeant Finger]

Okay. Take it easy with that cannon.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I'll turn around now. Call your boss in here.

[Sergeant Finger]

Look, Fortune, I.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Call him or I'll ventilate your head bone.

[Sergeant Finger]

Okay. Hey, boss.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

What?

[Sergeant Finger]

Step in a second, will you?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Okay.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Has our friend decided to talk yet?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

That's right, Brock. Get him up fast.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

I seem to have no choice.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Get over there with laughing boy.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Rocky, are you all right?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Just fine, honey. Just fine. Get some cord or something. We'll tie these monkeys up.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Yeah, just a minute and shut up, Brock.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Oh, no.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Fortune.

[Sergeant Finger]

Boss, he means business.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

You're the biggest, dumbest moose in the United States. Maybe in the whole Western Hamid Fear.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Go get him, boss. Don't move or I'll shoot.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Fortune, you amuse me. You really are a funny man.

[Sergeant Finger]

What's so funny, boys? That gun. Look at it, your numbskull.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

It's a water pistol.

[Sergeant Finger]

A plain, ordinary kid's water pistol.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I'll get him.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Hurry.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Reach into his pocket for his own artillery. And Moose starts after me. I pull the trigger and sure enough, a stream of water shoots Out. The kid has handed me a water pistol. I'm too groggy to realize it. By the time the thing really sinks in, Moose has knocked it out of my hand and Brock's got me covered.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

All right, Fortune, we fooled around long enough. I'm going to give you just about one second to tell me where the kid is.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Turn blue.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

If you don't answer, I pull this trigger. And this is no water pistol.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You're wasting your breath, pal.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Okay, start praying.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

Rocky, tell him no.

[Perry Brock (the boss)]

Okay, meathead, you asked for it.

[Sergeant Finger]

Okay, hold it. Drop the rod.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I saw your ugly puss on a fire escape finger. But for a couple of seconds, I thought you were gonna let him do it.

[Sergeant Finger]

I ought to.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Fortune, do you mind if I ask what brings you?

[Sergeant Finger]

Some kid walks into the precinct this morning right after I saw you. He drops a shoebox on the sergeant's desk and walks out. ShoeBox has got 50 grand and marked money from the payroll robbery. Took us a while to catch up, but we finally trailed a kid here and spotted him on the fire escape. Now don't tell me he's disappeared again.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Nah, he's just hiding. Get these hoods out of the room and I'll find him.

[Sergeant Finger]

Okay, you two, move. Will you show me the phone, lady? I gotta call the wagon to haul these punks away.

[Anne Preis (Mickey's aunt)]

With pleasure.

[Sergeant Finger]

Go on. Go on. You lead the way. Perry.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Mickey, Come on out, son.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Is it okay?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Yeah, it's okay. Your troubles are all over, kid. Your father's gone and he ain't coming back.

[Mickey (the kid)]

I won't have to go home?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Nope. From now on, this is your home. You're gonna stay right here with your Aunt Ann.

[Mickey (the kid)]

You mean I can't live with you?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Look, kid, you don't know what a lucky stiff you are. Getting to live with a lovely dish like. I mean, with an aunt like her. Don't worry, bub. I'll be around.

[Mickey (the kid)]

You will?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Sure. Every night. Twice on Sundays. That is, if you think your aunt wouldn't mind.

[Mickey (the kid)]

Oh, no, she'd like it. And so would Uncle Bill.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Who?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Uncle Bill.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

You mean she's married?

[Mickey (the kid)]

Yeah. You hoard, huh?

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

I hide. Good night.

[Narrator/Announcer]

NBC has presented Frank Sinatra as that footloose and fancy free young gentleman, Rocky Fortune. Others in tonight's cast included Richard Beals, Vivi Janis, Eddie Fields, Frank Richards and Barney Phillips. Tonight's script was written by George Lefferts and based on a story by Robert Sanadella. Andrew C. Love directed. Eddie King speaking. Now, to tell you about next week's adventure, here's Frank Sinatra as Rocky Fortune.

[Rocky Fortune (Frank Sinatra)]

Next week I get a job that pays 100 bucks an hour. Which is pretty good pay if you live so long. The trouble is, I almost don't. I'll tell you about it now. Next week. See you around.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Now enjoy fibber mcgee and molly on the NBC radio network.