This Is Your FBI: The Swampland Kidnapping 04/19/1946

Summary

Podcast Summary: This Is Your FBI: The Swampland Kidnapping

Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Original Airdate: 04/19/1946 | Podcast Release: March 1, 2026
Host: Choice Classic Radio

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Episode Overview

This episode features a classic dramatization from the 1940s radio series, This Is Your FBI, titled "The Swampland Kidnapping." Set in the treacherous Everglades of Florida, the story unravels a tense family drama entwined with crime and suspense, focusing on a kidnapping for ransom and the relentless pursuit of justice by the FBI. Listeners are taken on a journey through trust, betrayal, and the ultimate fate of both criminals and victims, all under the authentic noir tone of golden age radio.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Setting the Stage in the Everglades (02:11)

• Narrator Dean Carlton paints a vivid picture of the Everglades' dangerous, isolated landscape, foreshadowing that venturing into the swamp—even with a guide—can be perilous.

  “A vast and uncharted reptile infested area of treacherous cypress swamps and marshlands.” (02:15)

2. The Blanton Family Conflict (03:17–05:30)

• Danny Blanton returns home after years away, met with hostility from his mother, Bess, and the uncertainty of his father, Tom. Tension quickly escalates as Danny asserts dominance, brandishing a pistol and offering his parents hush money.

• Danny declares he’s plotting something that requires their cooperation and lack of questions, promising more money.

  “I’ll pay for my keep, old man. And here’s $50 on account.” (05:00) – Danny Blanton

3. The Kidnapping of James J. Fillmore (05:45–07:08)

• James J. Fillmore, a wealthy visitor, is lured under false pretenses for a fishing trip. Instead, Danny kidnaps him, sends an initial ransom note to Fillmore’s wife, and justifies his actions menacingly.

  “You’re going to visit me for a while until you ...” (06:36) – Danny Blanton

• The story quickly moves to Mrs. Fillmore, who, in distress, contacts the FBI against the kidnapper’s instructions.

  “The note instructed me not to call the FBI, the police, but I just can’t cope with this alone.” (07:12) – Mrs. Fillmore

4. FBI Investigation Begins (07:08–08:56)

• Agents Grant and Monroe calmly assure Mrs. Fillmore, gather evidence (notably the ransom note), and hypothesize on the potential location and tactics of the kidnapper. They methodically check for fingerprints and clues.

  “We’ll check the note for fingerprints and possible identification.” (08:56) – Agent Grant

5. Hostage Tensions Rise (09:13–11:50)

• Back in the swamp cabin, Danny threatens violence to maintain control. He forces Fillmore to write another ransom note, describing in detail the dangers of escaping the swamp without a guide.

  "Sometimes it looks innocent just like any other piece of ground till you on it. Then it’s got you for keeps. You start yelling and screaming for help... then all of a sudden, it’s quiet again. You sunk out of sight." (11:12–11:29) – Danny Blanton

• The ransom demand is set at $50,000.

6. FBI Waits in the Shadows (18:12–19:41)

• The ransom drop is set for 10 p.m., and the FBI stakes out the location. They resist intervening prematurely to protect the victim.

  “We meant to let him get away, Mrs. Fillmore. Your husband is not out of danger yet. It’s our job first to get your husband back and then to catch the kidnapper.” (19:28) – Agent Grant

7. The Blantons’ Betrayal and Moral Collapse (20:06–25:37)

• With Danny dead (shot by his own father during a heated confrontation), Tom and Bess claim the ransom. But paranoia sets in—knowing Fillmore could identify them, they plot his murder.

  "We can’t let him go ... He knows who we are now. He’ll tell the police all about us." (21:26) – Tom to Bess

8. The FBI’s Breakthrough and Rescue (22:17–26:11)

• The FBI leverages a covert infrared camera planted in the mailbox, confirming Bess Blanton as the ransom collector. They trace the location to the Cypress Swamp using rain and weather reports.

• With a guide’s help, the agents raid the cabin just in time to save Fillmore.

  “Drop that gun, Cladden.” (25:38) – Agent Grant

• Both Tom and Bess Blanton are arrested; the fate of Danny is revealed.

9. Aftermath and Moral Lesson (26:11–27:19)

• The narrative closes with both Blantons convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The episode hammers home the futility of compounding crime with murder, emphasizing the inevitability of justice.

  “To add murder to the crime of abduction is to furnish one more indelible clue which serves only to shorten the criminal’s road to inevitable justice.” (27:02) – Narrator Dean Carlton

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Danny Blanton’s Threat:
  “You start yelling and screaming for help. And all the time it keeps sucking you down, down, down. ... And then all of a sudden, it’s quiet again. You sunk out of sight.” (11:19–11:29)

• FBI’s Patient Strategy:
  “We meant to let him get away, Mrs. Fillmore. Your husband is not out of danger yet. It’s our job first to get your husband back and then to catch the kidnapper.” (19:28)

• Criminals’ Fatal Logic:
  “We can’t let him go. ... He’ll tell the police all about us.” (21:26)

• Justice Aftermath:
  “The stupidity of this reasoning should be obvious. To add murder to the crime of abduction is to furnish one more indelible clue...” (27:02)

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Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment & Content | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:11 | Introduction to the Everglades & setting | | 03:17–05:30| The Blanton family’s initial confrontation with Danny returns | | 05:45–07:08| Kidnapping of Fillmore & ransom note sent | | 07:08–08:56| FBI meets Mrs. Fillmore; investigation begins | | 09:13–11:50| Tension at the Blanton cabin; threats and ransom demands | | 18:12–19:41| FBI stakeout during the ransom drop; strategic patience | | 20:06–21:32| Tom and Bess collect ransom; debate what to do about Fillmore | | 22:17–23:03| FBI uses mailbox camera, weather clues, and innkeeper to close in on the suspects | | 25:38–25:49| Final confrontation: FBI storms cabin & rescues Fillmore | | 26:11–27:19| Case wrap-up: justice and moral reflection |

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Summary & Listener Takeaways

This episode encapsulates the classic FBI procedural: careful investigation, emotional family dynamics, the dark psychology of crime, and the professional, calculated response of law enforcement.

Listeners are drawn into a world where desperation leads to fatal decisions, the terrain itself becomes a character, and, ultimately, justice is inevitable. The radio play’s use of authentic period language, atmospheric suspense, and tightly wound plot delivers a classic detective experience.

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For Further Listening

Next week’s episode: The Salesman of Espionage – another tale from the FBI’s storied files.

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Transcript

[Carl Frank]

Welcome to Choice Classic Radio where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows like us on Facebook, subscribe

[James J. Fillmore]

to us on YouTube and thank you

[Carl Frank]

for [e-mail] the Equitable Life Assurance Society presents this is your FVI. This is your FBI. An 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. In just a moment, we'll bring you this as your FBI. Every week, millions and millions of people listen to this program that is proof of national interest in one of our great national services. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the sponsor of this is your FBI. The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States is proud of this national interest in security. For this is the spirit that prompted the equitable society's founders 86 years ago to create a life assurance society dedicated to financial security. And today, three and a quarter million members of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States bear witness to the usefulness, strength and stability of an organization that by serving Equitable Society members, serves America. Tonight's FBI file. The swampland kidnapping.

[Narrator (Dean Carlton)]

Stretching almost from coast to coast across the southern portion of the state of Florida is the great American jungle known as the Everglades. A vast and uncharted reptile infested area of treacherous cypress swamps and marshlands into which only the most foolhardy would dare to venture without a guide. And as in tonight's case, from the files of your FBI, sometimes it can be a grave mistake to venture into the Everglades with the guide. A few miles inland from the Gulf coast and reached by a crooked chain of stagnant swamp lakes is the ramshackle cabin of Tom Blanton and his wife Bess. But little sunlight manages to penetrate the patchwork canopy of intertwining cypress trees is fading rapidly now as Blanton makes his way along the footpath between bogs up to the cabin by the back way.

[Tom Blanton]

You can wash up, Tom. Supper's most ready.

[Bess Blanton]

Yeah, powerful hungry too. Did you fix up that whole mess of catfish, Bess?

[Danny Blanton]

What?

[Bess Blanton]

Tom, you got three plates on the table.

[Tom Blanton]

Didn't you see his motorboat tied up to the root?

[Narrator (Dean Carlton)]

I come the back way.

[Bess Blanton]

Whose boat?

[Tom Blanton]

We got pretty special company, Tom.

[Bess Blanton]

What company? Who's come here, Bess?

[Tom Blanton]

Somebody we ain't seen in a mighty long time.

[Bess Blanton]

Who you talking to?

[Tom Blanton]

Now, Tom, don't go gettin.

[Bess Blanton]

All right? I said, who you talking about?

[Tom Blanton]

Our Boy, Danny.

[Bess Blanton]

So he came back after I told him not to.

[Tom Blanton]

Tom, what do you think? Danny's been to all them big cities like Chicago and New York.

[Bess Blanton]

And he can start back from right now.

[Tom Blanton]

Wait, Tom.

[Bess Blanton]

When I run him off from here, I said it was for good and I meant it best.

[Tom Blanton]

But Danny's our boy.

[Bess Blanton]

He ain't none of mine no more.

[Tom Blanton]

Tommy's just here for a visit.

[Bess Blanton]

Well, he ain't going to stay here another minute. Dark.

[Danny Blanton]

Hello, Pop. You're welcome's most touching.

[Tom Blanton]

Now, Danny, he don't mean what he said.

[Bess Blanton]

It was just you shut up and keep out his best.

[Danny Blanton]

Yeah, Ma, you keep out. This is between me and the old man.

[Bess Blanton]

I'm giving you five minutes. Dan, get your stuff and get out of here.

[Danny Blanton]

You heard Ma. I come here for visit and I'm staying for a while.

[Bess Blanton]

Why, you low down swamp wreck.

[Tom Blanton]

Danny, what are you doing with that pistol?

[Danny Blanton]

Stay where you are, Pop.

[Tom Blanton]

Danny.

[Bess Blanton]

You're yellow, huh? Pull a gun on me.

[Danny Blanton]

I just wanted to stop you with it before I had to hurt you with my hand.

[Bess Blanton]

Just you put that gun down. We'll see whether you.

[Danny Blanton]

Shut up and listen. I didn't come back here cause I was dying to see you.

[Bess Blanton]

What you want here?

[Danny Blanton]

Not as much use for you as you have for me. But here, take a look at this.

[Tom Blanton]

Damn it. Oh, that money.

[Danny Blanton]

I'll pay for my keep, old man. And here's 50 on account. Look at him grab.

[Bess Blanton]

Good lord, Bess, look. $50.

[Danny Blanton]

And there'll be more where that 50 come from if you don't ask a lot of questions.

[Bess Blanton]

You mean it?

[Danny Blanton]

I'm going down to coast tomorrow. And I'm bringing a friend back with me for a few days.

[Tom Blanton]

Who is your friend, Danny?

[Bess Blanton]

Now, Bess, Bess, look here. You heard what he said about asking questions. Put the supper on. Sit right down, son. Make yourself to home.

[Danny Blanton]

And you called me a swamp ra.

[Narrator (Dean Carlton)]

Shortly after dawn two mornings later, the well to do James J. Fillmore stepped into the small motorboat he had chartered for a day of deep fishing in the Gulf. But instead of the craft putting out into the Gulf, it cruised alongshore for a few minutes, then suddenly turned into a stream leading back into the swamp country.

[James J. Fillmore]

I say here, Captain, where are we going?

[Danny Blanton]

The weather don't look so good for deep fish, Mr. Filmo.

[FBI Agent Grant]

What?

[Danny Blanton]

We're going fishing in the Everglades.

[James J. Fillmore]

The Everglades. Okay, young man, you might have consulted me before changing my plans.

[Danny Blanton]

That might have spoiled my plans, Mr. Fillmore.

[James J. Fillmore]

What? What do you mean.

[Danny Blanton]

Just take it easy. I've already mailed your wife in Sarasota some first instructions.

[Bess Blanton]

You've done what?

[Danny Blanton]

Sure. If she does what I tell her to, everything will be okay with you.

[James J. Fillmore]

Okay?

[Bess Blanton]

You don't mean you're.

[Danny Blanton]

That's right, Fillmore. You're going to visit me for a while until you. This is viser p. Oh, no, you

[James J. Fillmore]

don't turn this boat about right now

[Danny Blanton]

or I feel more.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Misses Fillmore?

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Yes?

[FBI Agent Grant]

We're special agents of the FBI.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Oh, yes. Please come in. The note instructed me not to call the FBI, the police, but I just can't cope with this alone.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

You did the proper thing in calling the FBI, Mrs. Fillmore.

[FBI Agent Grant]

And you may be sure we shall do nothing that'll further jeopardize the safety of your husband.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Poor Jim. If I had been home, maybe he. He would have taken me with him and this wouldn't have happened.

[FBI Agent Grant]

You were not at home when your husband left?

[Mrs. Fillmore]

No. I had been up in Tampa for a few days visiting friends.

[FBI Agent Grant]

When did you return?

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Just last night. I found the note from him saying that he had gone away on a horrid business trip.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Did the note say where he was going?

[Danny Blanton]

No.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

No, it didn't.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Do you have any idea where he might have gone?

[Mrs. Fillmore]

No. We come down here every winter, and after a few weeks, Jim gets a little restless and goes to call on some of the people with whom he does business.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

I see. Well, may we have the note, please?

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Yes.

[Tom Blanton]

Here you are.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Thank you.

[Danny Blanton]

Hmm.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Look, Grant. Sarasota postmark. Mailed right here in the city.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Yeah, 6:30pm yesterday.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

And Mr. Fillmore left home yesterday. So the abduction could have taken place right in this vicinity. Not necessarily.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Kidnapping could have taken place in Palm beach or wherever it was Fillmore went.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

In which case, the kidnapper came back here and mailed the letter.

[FBI Agent Grant]

It would certainly be safer for the kidnapper than mailing it from his actual point of operations. What does it say?

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Your husband's plans have been changed. But do as you are told and you'll be. He'll be okay.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

But don't say what I'm to do.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Don't call the police or the FBI. Don't get excited. Stay at home. You'll receive further instructions later. Well, what's the first move, Grant?

[FBI Agent Grant]

We'll check the note for fingerprints and possible identification. Let's go.

[Tom Blanton]

Danny told us not to ask any questions about him and his friend Tom, but I got.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

I reckon a man's got a right best to know what's going on under his own rule.

[Tom Blanton]

Well, their business is their business, and you best leave them alone in there. But you seen the cut on that fella's head? Seems mean. Danny said his friend took a fall in the boot.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Yeah, well, I don't believe it.

[Tom Blanton]

Where you going to?

[FBI Agent Monroe]

I'm going in there and find out

[Danny Blanton]

what's going somewhere, Pop.

[Bess Blanton]

Look here, Dan, I want.

[Danny Blanton]

And sit down. Where's that box of writing paper I hid?

[Tom Blanton]

Let me see now. Oh, here it is, Danny.

[Danny Blanton]

Okay. My friend wants to write a letter.

[Bess Blanton]

Look here, Dan, I want.

[Tom Blanton]

Shut up.

[Danny Blanton]

If you want any more dough instead of a dose of lead, you'll stay. Shut up. Okay. Okay, Fillmore, this time your wife's gonna get a letter from you.

[James J. Fillmore]

No, she isn't.

[Danny Blanton]

Take a sheet of paper out of this box with your own fingers. There's a pencil.

[James J. Fillmore]

I'm not writing any letter to anybody. No, and you won't get away with this. Kidnappers never get away with it.

[Danny Blanton]

That really frightens me. You know, maybe I better turn you loose.

[James J. Fillmore]

If you're smart, you will.

[Danny Blanton]

Okay, Mr. Fillmore, I'll turn you loose.

[James J. Fillmore]

All right. You're joking with me.

[Danny Blanton]

No, I'm on the level. You can go, but you'll have to get out of the big cypress swamp all by yourself. And unless if.

[James J. Fillmore]

I thought you meant that.

[Danny Blanton]

I said I was on the level. But remember this. I don't know of nobody who ever got out without a guide. No? No. The swamp's full of rattlesnakes, cottonmouth moccasins, alligators. We even got lions in there, Mr. Fillmore. If one of them don't get you, the wrong step will.

[James J. Fillmore]

What do you mean?

[Danny Blanton]

Sometimes it looks innocent just like any other piece of ground till you on it. Then it's got you for keeps.

[Carl Frank]

You mean?

[Danny Blanton]

Yeah, the bug. You start going down, see? Then you start yelling and screaming for help. And all the time it keeps sucking you down, down, down.

[Innkeeper]

You yell.

[Danny Blanton]

You scream louder and louder and louder. And then all of a sudden, it's quiet again. You sunk out of sight. But maybe you can beat the swamp, Mr. Fillmore. There's a door. You want to try it?

[James J. Fillmore]

No, no, of course not. I haven't got a chance.

[Danny Blanton]

Okay, then my services as a guide are going to cost you $50,000. So pick up that pencil and start writing what I tell you.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Look, granted, the ransom note was postmarked in Sarasota, just as the other note was.

[FBI Agent Grant]

I felt certain it would be.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

And the hideout can't be too far away.

[FBI Agent Grant]

But we've got no lead to it.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

I know, but.

[FBI Agent Grant]

And we still can't take any openly offensive action to uncover the hideout until Mr. Fillmore is out of danger.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

No, no, please don't.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Are you positive, Mrs. Fillmore, that this note was written by your husband?

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Yes. Yes it was. I'm positive.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Then he's pretty certain to be safe? So far.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

But what are we going to do about the ransom?

[FBI Agent Grant]

Well, my advice is to follow the instruct the note in every detail. You mean there is still time for you to draw the money out of the bank?

[Danny Blanton]

Yes.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Then we'll have it in your mailbox down at the road by 10 o' clock tonight as instructed.

[Tom Blanton]

Well, I reckon I better get supper started before. Tom, what you do hush up this Danny catches you listen up there.

[Danny Blanton]

Okay, Fillmore, it's time I would stop at the.

[Tom Blanton]

You better come away from. Listen to.

[Danny Blanton]

I thought enough of you to leave the 50,000 in the mailbox. Like I said, I'll come back and take you out of the swamp.

[James J. Fillmore]

If the money is not there, I'll

[Danny Blanton]

come back anyway and make sure you never get out of the swamp.

[Narrator (Dean Carlton)]

Well, I'm a lot of this saying Tom, either way.

[James J. Fillmore]

Because you'll never get away with it. I told you before, kidnappers never get away with it.

[Danny Blanton]

I'll worry about that Gilmore.

[Innkeeper]

You just keep.

[Bess Blanton]

He sure ain't gonna get away with it.

[Danny Blanton]

Mister, you've been snooping at the door, huh?

[Bess Blanton]

I sure have.

[Danny Blanton]

And you to keep your dirty nose

[Narrator (Dean Carlton)]

out of my business.

[Tom Blanton]

I told you, Pa.

[Bess Blanton]

Shut up, woman.

[Danny Blanton]

Okay, so now you know what's going on.

[Bess Blanton]

And I say you ain't going to

[FBI Agent Grant]

get away with it.

[Danny Blanton]

Don't figure I'm going to the cops because I'll blast you. But even if you got to the cops, you might both be in a jail.

[Bess Blanton]

What do you mean?

[Danny Blanton]

After all, your house is a hideout. So you're both in it, same as me.

[Bess Blanton]

Why you low down crawling? Don't try to get your gun off that chair cuz I'm closer to it than you are.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Danny.

[Tom Blanton]

You've killed him, Tom.

[Bess Blanton]

I reckon it was him or me.

[James J. Fillmore]

I'm sorry it had to turn out this way, sir. But in doing so it has brought me my freedom. So the least I can do is see to it that you are amply rewarded.

[Bess Blanton]

I reckon that won't be necessary, mister.

[James J. Fillmore]

What do you mean?

[Bess Blanton]

I mean we're going to collect that $50,000. Now.

[Carl Frank]

In New England today, April 19th is Patriots Day. Before returning to the case on the swampland kidnapping Let me tell you what Patriots Day should mean to Americans. This week at the Equitable Society, four famous lines from Emerson kept running through my mind. Lines written about something that happened on the 19th of April, 1775. The Battle of Lexington. The day right after Paul Revere's ride by the rude bridge that arched the flood their flag to April's breeze unfurled Here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world. Those heroic lines in praise of self reliant men make your heart beat faster, don't they? And they should. Because self reliance is an American quality that is just as priceless today as it was in 1775. It's the backbone of the American way of life. And just to prove that it's still a factor in our country's progress, let me give you the number of people who belong to the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. It's three and a quarter million. Three and a quarter million people, men and women who have proved that they believe in taking care of themselves and their families by their own efforts. That's self reliance for you. That's proof of thrift and cooperation, too. Together, these three and a quarter million people have built the Equitable Life Assurance Society into a fortress of financial strength. They've put together a great protective fund which gives each member far more security than he could achieve individually. They're carrying on that tradition which enables us to say that this week and every week for more than 86 years, the equitable Society is building security for you, your home and your country. And now back to the FBI file. The swampland kidnapping.

[Narrator (Dean Carlton)]

In following its policy and kidnapping cases of remaining quietly in the background during the ransom negotiations, the FBI greatly handicapped itself in the task of apprehending the criminal. But to the FBI, the safe return of the victim has right of way over all other considerations. After that, there is time enough to catch the criminal. And as the victim in tonight's case said, kidnappers never get away with it. Several hours have passed now since Tom Blanton shot down his son Dan during their fight in the Blanton cabin deep in the big Cypress swamp where the kidnapped victim, James Fillmore, is being held. Just outside of Sarasota, the old house on the Fillmore estate is dark and seems deserted. But at a front window, three figures keep silent and constant vigil. The only sounds the rustle of the night breeze through the palm trees and the roll of the surf a hundred yards away.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Can you see the dial on your watch, Grant?

[FBI Agent Grant]

Two Minutes of ten.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Two minutes to go.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

He will come at ten, like you said, won't he?

[FBI Agent Grant]

A note. Said only to have the money in the MA at the road by 10.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

But surely that means he planned to pick it up at that time.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Well, we can only wait and see.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

But what if he doesn't come for the money?

[FBI Agent Grant]

This crime's been committed for money, Mrs. Fillmore. I'm confident somebody will come for it.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

If they don't make it by ten grand. How much time?

[Danny Blanton]

Listen.

[FBI Agent Grant]

What was it? Thought I hurt. Wait a minute.

[Tom Blanton]

It's a car.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Oh, thank heaven.

[Danny Blanton]

Don't any of us make a move now.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Watch.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Must be pulling up to the mailbox now. I wish there were a wound. Somebody's getting out.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Yeah. Can't tell anything about him from here, though. Just a shadow.

[Danny Blanton]

Listen.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

He's opening the mailbox.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

What are you young men waiting for?

[FBI Agent Grant]

What do you mean?

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Aren't you going out there and catch him?

[FBI Agent Grant]

Oh, no.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

What do you mean? You're going to let him get away?

[FBI Agent Grant]

We meant to let him get away, Mrs. Fillmore. Your husband is not out of danger yet. It's our job first to get your husband back and then to catch the kidnapper.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Think it's safe now to go down and take a look at the mailbox?

[FBI Agent Grant]

I think so.

[Danny Blanton]

Let's go.

[Tom Blanton]

Hurry and tie up, Tom.

[Bess Blanton]

Did you get it, Bess? Was it there?

[Danny Blanton]

Sure, I got it.

[Tom Blanton]

Let's get in the house out of this rain.

[Bess Blanton]

Oh, now, you oughtn't to mind little rain now, Best girl. We're rich.

[Tom Blanton]

A little rain. Looks like it's been raining here ever since I left.

[Bess Blanton]

Now, Bess, don't go getting cantankerous.

[Tom Blanton]

I'm holding you to your promise, Tom. You promised to take me out in this swamp if I'd done what you told me to do tonight.

[Bess Blanton]

I will.

[Innkeeper]

I will.

[Bess Blanton]

Now, come on.

[James J. Fillmore]

Well, I trust your mission was successful, sir.

[Bess Blanton]

Sure thing. Best Found the money, just like you said.

[James J. Fillmore]

And now that I bought my freedom,

[Bess Blanton]

you ain't got another worry, mister. Now, you might as well go to bed and get yourself a good night sleeping.

[James J. Fillmore]

Go to bed.

[Bess Blanton]

Ain't gonna take you out in the swamp till morning, that's for sure.

[James J. Fillmore]

But you will then?

[Bess Blanton]

Oh, sure. Me and my woman will be going away, then ourselves. Very well. Good night, mister.

[Tom Blanton]

I was just thinking, Tom.

[Danny Blanton]

About what?

[Tom Blanton]

I'd like to turn him loose, same as you, but. But taint safe.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

What you mean?

[Tom Blanton]

He knows who we are now. He'll tell the police all about us. And no matter where we go, they'll be looking for us.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Yeah,

[Danny Blanton]

sure.

[Bess Blanton]

You're right, Bess.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

We can't let him go.

[Tom Blanton]

But what are we gonna do with him? Don't you worry now.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

I'll figure that out come morning. And I think I got an idea.

[FBI Agent Grant]

You must go to bed, Mrs. Fillmore, and. And try to get a night's sleep.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

I won't sleep a wink, Mr. Grant, until my husband is back home safely.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Well, the note said he would be returned by morning.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

What if something goes wrong?

[FBI Agent Grant]

Oh, you mustn't think of that.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Things do go wrong in these cases. I know.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

I got a good picture of the kidnapper, Grant.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Good picture? Yes, Mrs. Fillmore, we had planted an infrared camera in the mailbox.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

What?

[FBI Agent Grant]

And it automatically took a picture of the person who opened the mailbox to get the money.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

And it was a woman, Grant.

[Mrs. Fillmore]

A woman?

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Here you are.

[Narrator (Dean Carlton)]

Look.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Wearing a raincoat.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

I already checked on that. And I got our first big lead.

[FBI Agent Grant]

What do you mean?

[FBI Agent Monroe]

I figured wherever she drove in from, it was raining. Well, I checked with the weather bureau, and the only place it's been raining tonight is down in the big cypress swamp area.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Cypress swamp, huh? Is. Is your husband a fisherman, Mrs. Fillmore?

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Yes, he loves to fish.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Has he ever gone fishing in the Everglades?

[Mrs. Fillmore]

Yes, he has. At a town called Everglades.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Now we're getting somewhere.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Come on, Monroe. That's where we're going. Are you the innkeeper?

[Innkeeper]

Yes, sir.

[FBI Agent Grant]

We're special agents of the FBI.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

Oh.

[Innkeeper]

What can I do for you?

[FBI Agent Grant]

Do you know a Mr. James J. Fillmore?

[Innkeeper]

Why, yes. He come down here a couple of days ago for a little fishing.

[FBI Agent Grant]

But you haven't seen him since? No, sir.

[Innkeeper]

Something wrong?

[FBI Agent Grant]

Whose boat did he charter?

[Innkeeper]

Well, now you got me there. I know the regular charter boats was all busy. Must have made a deal with one of the private boats.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Would you know which one?

[Innkeeper]

Let me see. Couldn't have been Charlie Bates. He just sold his little outfit a couple of days ago.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Who bought it?

[Innkeeper]

I think he said he sold it to Dan Blanton. He's been away a long time. Dan Hares just come back a couple of days ago.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Where does Blanton live?

[Innkeeper]

His folks got a cabin back in the swamps a few miles. Maybe they know.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Could we get there tonight?

[Innkeeper]

Couldn't possibly start for daylight. Even then. You need a guide, you know.

[FBI Agent Grant]

I see. Do you recognize the woman in this picture here?

[Innkeeper]

Let me see, sir. Why, sure, sure. That's old Tom Blatton's wife, Bess.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Why, you Rustle us up a boat and a guide and you'll find out why we.

[Bess Blanton]

Yes, come on out, Mr. Best. Me is ready to get going now.

[James J. Fillmore]

But it's the middle of the night. I thought you said we couldn't leave before morning.

[Bess Blanton]

We ain't all going.

[James J. Fillmore]

What?

[Bess Blanton]

You see, Best and me was talking it over and we decided, since you know all about us, who we are and what we look like and all, well, we decided it wouldn't be safe. First turn you loose.

[James J. Fillmore]

Look here, you've got the money. What else do you want?

[Bess Blanton]

Just like I said, we can't turn you loose. What do you mean? I mean we gotta leave you behind.

[James J. Fillmore]

No, no, you can't do that. I'd never get out of here on foot alone.

[Bess Blanton]

We ain't aiming for you to get out at all. What? Better go in the other room, Bess.

[Tom Blanton]

Oh, you're wasting time, Tom. Get it over with.

[James J. Fillmore]

No, wait a minute. If the money you've got is not enough, I'll give you more.

[Bess Blanton]

It's just like she said. We're wasting time. We can't take a chance on leaving you here alive. No, no.

[James J. Fillmore]

For heaven's sake, you can't do that too.

[Bess Blanton]

Stand back, Bess. I'm going to.

[Innkeeper]

No.

[Carl Frank]

No.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Drop that gun, Cladden.

[Bess Blanton]

Who you would come busting in here

[FBI Agent Grant]

like special to the FBI? And I said to drop that gun.

[Bess Blanton]

I ain't aiming to drop no gun for no.

[FBI Agent Grant]

Here, take his gun, Monroe. Are you all right, Mr. Fillmore?

[James J. Fillmore]

Yes, thanks to you. Gentlemen.

[FBI Agent Monroe]

There seems to be one member of the party missing. Where's your son, Mrs. Blanton?

[James J. Fillmore]

His father here shot him and threw his body in a swamp bog. That's what these two are about to do with me.

[FBI Agent Grant]

All right, get out from there, Blanton.

[James J. Fillmore]

My wife, is she all right?

[FBI Agent Grant]

We telephone. She'll be waiting in Everglades for you when we come out of the swamp.

[Narrator (Dean Carlton)]

Let's go. After having been tried for the murder of their son, Thomas Blanton and his wife Bess were both convicted and sentenced to die in the electric chair. There have been some abduction cases, such as the one you have just heard, in which the criminals were afraid to release their victims because of the information they could furnish the FBI or the police. The stupidity of this reasoning should be obvious. To add murder to the crime of abduction is to furnish one more indelible clue which serves only to shorten the criminal's road to inevitable justice.

[Carl Frank]

Before telling you about next week's exciting case, let me remind you Again, that just as you look to your FBI for national security. So to the Equitable Society, you look for the financial security of life insurance.

[Narrator (Dean Carlton)]

Yes.

[Carl Frank]

Like the FBI agent. The Equitable Society representative in your community is a specialist on the subject of security. His job is to preserve homes, to help keep children in school. And to make old age a time of happiness and contentment. It's a good job and one that has won for him the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens. Who recognize his contribution to the security of you, your home and your country.

[Narrator (Dean Carlton)]

Next week we will bring you another colorful story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The salesman of espionage.

[Carl Frank]

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's broadcast was directed by William M. Sweets. The music was under the direction of Frederick Steiner. The author was Frank Ferries. And your narrator was Dean Carlton. This is your FBI Is a Jerry Devine production. Now, this is Carl Frank speaking for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. And the Equitable Society's representative in your community. And inviting you to tune in again next week at this same time when the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Will bring you another colorful story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The salesman of espionage on this is your fbr. This is abc, the American Broadcasting Company.