21st Precinct 55-11-25 (112) The Son

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "21st Precinct 55-11-25 (112) The Son"

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Date: February 28, 2026
Episode Theme:
A classic police procedural from the golden age of radio, this episode of 21st Precinct, titled "The Son," dramatizes the investigation of a missing handgun from a neighborhood store. The story uncovers not only a potential crime, but also the family tensions and generational struggles beneath the surface.

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Main Theme/Purpose

The episode centers around the disappearance of a licensed handgun from John Froud's liquor store, and the ensuing investigation led by Captain Cronin and his officers. What begins as a straightforward missing property case soon evolves into a study of family conflict, aspirations, and misunderstandings between father and son, set against the meticulous daily grind of New York City police work.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Incident Report: Missing Firearm

• [01:42] The audience is introduced to the 21st Precinct; John Froud reports his store’s licensed revolver missing.
• The importance and stringency of New York’s Sullivan Law regarding handgun licenses is emphasized, highlighting how seriously the police approach the loss of even a single weapon.

2. Initial Investigation

• [05:15-07:40] Froud details the discovery of the missing gun to Captain Cronin: kept in a drawer under a cash register, last seen at opening, missing by closing time.
• Family (wife, son) and helpers (Joe, an occasional delivery and cleaning man) all had potential access.

3. Suspicions and Family Dynamics

• [09:35-13:11] Froud’s son, Bud, emerges as a possible suspect; tension surfaces over Bud's desire to leave college and marry, clashing with Froud's aspirations for his son to become a doctor.
• Cronin probes gently but firmly:

  "If he has got it, you better help us get it back from him before he gets in worse trouble." – Captain Cronin ([13:12])

• The emotional toll on Froud becomes clear as he vacillates between suspicion and paternal defense.

4. Store Scene & Character Interviews

• [14:13-19:28] Investigation shifts to the store; Froud’s wife Ella and Joe are questioned.
• Both deny any involvement or suspecting Bud, but the undercurrents of family disagreement are revealed, especially between Froud and Bud regarding Bud's future.

5. Resolution: Truth Revealed

• [20:45-25:44] Police locate Bud at City College and bring him in for questioning.
• Bud reluctantly confesses—not to theft, but to having hidden the gun out of fear that his father’s distress over his choices might lead to violence or self-harm:

  "I took it out of the drawer and hid it in a case of wine on the floor by the window... I just didn’t want to take the chance." – Bud ([24:51])

• Bud reveals he's already quit school and secretly married; hiding the gun was an act to prevent possible tragedy, not a crime.
• The episode closes on a note of mutual understanding and emotional reconciliation:

  "You're right to do what you wanted to do... I'm glad for you. I'm very glad for you." – John Froud to his son ([25:44])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the gravity of a missing weapon:

  "A dangerous weapon like that gets in the wrong hands and causes a lot of trouble." – Captain Cronin ([15:14])

• Father’s Ambition versus Son’s Will:

  "It’s my ambition he should have a profession." – John Froud ([14:35]) "I wanted it my way for a change. My way." – Bud Froud ([25:07])

• Cronin contextualizes police work:

  "Around the clock, through the week, every day, every year, a police precinct in the city of New York is a flesh and blood merry go round. Anyone can catch the brass ring, or the brass ring can catch anyone." – Narration ([26:32])

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Important Timestamps

• [01:42] – Introduction to 21st Precinct and the call about missing gun
• [05:27] – Froud explains the security and access around the gun
• [13:25] – Froud admits suspecting his son and wrestles with the implications
• [15:02] – Captain Cronin and Froud arrive at the store, begin on-site interviews
• [17:10] – Family dispute and discussion with Ella Froud
• [17:13] – Joe, the store helper, is questioned and denies any involvement
• [20:45] – Police learn Bud has confessed to taking the gun
• [24:17-25:44] – Emotional confrontation and truth between father and son
• [26:32] – Episode’s closing reflection on police work

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Tone & Style

The episode exemplifies the steady, procedural, and often compassionate style of mid-20th-century radio police dramas, blending suspensful investigation with earnest family drama. The dialogue is measured but emotionally charged, particularly in scenes between John Froud and his son, and in Captain Cronin’s even-handed handling of the case.

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Conclusion

"The Son" is a prime example of the way Golden Age radio dramas wove everyday law enforcement with the moral and emotional dilemmas faced by ordinary families. In this episode, the resolution isn't just the recovery of a missing gun, but a heartfelt moment of understanding within a family under strain—a testament to the program’s human touch and skillful storytelling.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

21st Precinct. Sergeant Rosen.

[C]

What happened to it?

[B]

Was it stolen? Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

Well, where'd you keep it?

[B]

You are, by transcription, in the muster room at the 21st Precinct, the nerve center. A call is coming through. You will follow the action taken pursuant to that call from this minute until the final report is written in the 124 room at the 21st Precinct. Well, I'll tell you what you better do.

[C]

You better come on into the station house, make a report of it.

[B]

No, you better come right away.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah. 21st Precinct. It's just lines on a map of the city of New York. Most of the 173,000 people wedged into the 9/10 of a square mile between Fifth Avenue and the East River. Wouldn't know if you asked them that they lived or worked in the 21st. Whether they know it or not, the security of their homes, their persons and their property is the job of the men of the 21st Precinct. The 21st. 160 patrolmen, 11 sergeants and four lieutenants, of whom I'm the boss. My name is Cronin, Vincent P. Cronin. I am captain in command of the 21st Precinct. I was doing day duty 8am to 6pm after I turned out the platoon and the men marched out the front door to take over their posts, I walked through the back room, not across the iron grating, to the smaller building in back of the station house where the detention cells are located. There I found Patrolman Bailey, the station house attendant, cleaning up the doors of all six cells were standing open. There had been four prisoners held over during the night. But at 7:30am the patrol wagon had come by the station house to take them to court. With Patrolman Bailey walking a step or two behind me. I conducted an inspection of the cells to see that they were clean, supplied with paper, drinking cups, towels and so forth. After I completed this inspection, sector car number three came by the house for me. I went out on patrol of the precinct. While I was so engaged, Sergeant Rosen had telephone switchboard duty and Lieutenant Gorman was the desk officer. Sergeant. Yes, sir. Give me the communications bureau on here.

[C]

Yes, sir.

[B]

21st Precinct. Lieutenant Garment sick report. CB tourman James Rios Rios. No s like in Sam. 10th Precinct. He went sick at 8:50am at home. 792 E. 93rd St. Sergeant to call.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah, sergeant.

[C]

Yes, sir.

[B]

I want to talk to the caro when he rings in.

[C]

Okay.

[D]

Lieutenant.

[B]

Wait.

[C]

Excuse me, Sergeant. You'll have to talk to the desk officer. Mrs. Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me, Lieutenant. Yes?

[B]

I'm John Froud.

[C]

I own the package store at 284 East 75th Street.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Mr. Froude, what can I do for you?

[C]

Well, Lieutenant, I got a license to keep a gun in the store. I had three stick ups since I've been there. I got this license.

[B]

Yeah, what about it? Well, the gun is gone.

[C]

Disappeared?

[B]

What do you mean disappear?

[C]

It's gone.

[B]

I don't know.

[C]

Disappeared.

[B]

Well, how could the gun just disappear? You think it was stolen? I don't know.

[C]

It's gone. Nothing else was taken.

[B]

Where did you keep them?

[C]

Well, I got wines on one side and liquor on the other. In the middle is this little counter with a cash register and wrappings in a drawer. Right under the cash register.

[B]

When did you miss it? Last night. I went to get something else out

[C]

of the drawer and I saw the gun wasn't there.

[B]

Why didn't you report it then? Well, I. I thought maybe my wife would know where it was.

[C]

Maybe she saw it or my son.

[B]

I looked all over the store and

[C]

when I got home, I asked my wife. She didn't see it.

[B]

What about your son?

[C]

Well, he wasn't home yet. I. I fell asleep and I didn't see him until this morning. He didn't know anything about it.

[B]

Sergeant.

[C]

Yes, sir?

[B]

Put a call out for the skipper, will you?

[C]

Okay. I don't know what could have happened to it. I. I got no idea.

[B]

How long have you had this gun? 21st Precinct, Sagittarius. Well, it's.

[C]

See, it's about three, four years ago.

[B]

Just a license to carry or just to possess on the premises?

[C]

Possess on the premises.

[B]

All right, Mr. Proud, you wait right over there, huh? I put a radio call out for Captain Cronin. He'll come in and talk to you about it.

[C]

Well, can I get back to the store? My wife is there and she has to go someplace.

[B]

Her sister is in the hot. No, you'd better wait for the captain, also for the detectives to come in.

[C]

Well, I could come back this afternoon.

[B]

He'd want to talk to you now. I'm sure of that. All right.

[C]

I guess I better wait.

[B]

Yeah, I guess you'd better. Section 1897 of the Penal law of the State of New York, otherwise known as the Sullivan Law, is perhaps the most stringent and strictly enforced law relating to weapons in the country. A license to carry or possess a firearm that may be concealed on the person is extremely difficult to obtain. Applicants for such license are carefully investigated and personally interviewed by both the precinct commander and the detective squad commander. The loss of a pistol by a licensee is a serious matter, and the manual of procedure requires that an immediate investigation be conducted by the precinct commander. When the radio call was put out for me, I instructed my operator, Patrolman Fowl, to stop the nearest call box. I rang into the station house, and Lieutenant Gorman informed me of the particulars. I told him to have Mr. Froud wait. When I arrived, Lt. Gorman handed me the file copy of the LD80, the application for a pistol license. And I took the liquor store owner, Mr. Froud, into my office, where I began to question him.

[C]

Crazy? I don't know. It's just plain crazy. How can it disappear like that from nowhere?

[B]

Well, we know it didn't just walk out by itself, Mr. Fraud.

[C]

Yeah, that's a cinch, cousin.

[B]

You kept the gun in a drawer in the counter under the cash register?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

How long you been keeping it there?

[C]

Well, since I got it.

[B]

Your license was first issued January 23, 1953.

[C]

That's how long. Yeah. Ridiculous. The whole thing.

[B]

Gun's an S&W. 38 terrier, blued finish.

[C]

Yeah. Yes.

[B]

Did you get the draw lock?

[C]

Well, I locked it when I closed up the store at night, Captain. But when the store was open, I. I didn't lock it because what would be the sense of locking the drawer if suddenly I needed a gun? I was stuck up there three times, you know, in 10 years. Who knew when it was gonna happen again?

[B]

Then when'd you last see it again? Yesterday morning, when I opened the drawer.

[C]

When I Unlocked it.

[B]

You're positive it was there then?

[C]

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I keep in there. Also my bank books, deposit slips. I saw it in there when I went to get them out.

[B]

And when did you miss it?

[C]

Last night, 10 o', clock, when I. When I closed it.

[B]

You had no occasion during the day to go to the drawer, whether the gun was in there?

[C]

No, sir.

[B]

No.

[C]

No occasion.

[B]

How many employees do you have, Mr. Fran?

[C]

Employees?

[B]

Yeah. Well, he.

[C]

He's not really what you'd call an employee.

[B]

Who's that?

[C]

Joe.

[B]

Joe who?

[C]

Joe Iguata. He's a fella that comes in every morning. You know, he. He sweeps up, he unpacks some goods for me. And when I got a delivery in the neighborhood, he makes it.

[B]

He.

[C]

He does same thing for Delicatesque around on 3rd Avenue. Cleans up, makes deliveries. We sort of. Well, we share his time. Half and half.

[B]

Like, how long has he been working for you?

[C]

Oh, a long time. I know. Three, four years.

[B]

Did you ever miss anything out of the store prior to this?

[C]

Nothing. No, not a thing. I don't think Joe would do anything like this.

[B]

Did he know you had a revolver on the premises?

[C]

Well, it wasn't any secret, Captain. I. I didn't go out of my way to tell him, but it wasn't any secret.

[B]

Was he in the store yesterday between the time you saw the revolver in the morning and when you missed it at night?

[C]

Yup. Yes, several times. He. He was in and out all day.

[B]

Were you able to observe his actions on each of those occasions?

[C]

Well, I. I didn't see him do anything suspicious, if that's what you mean. No, I. I don't think he'd steal anything, Captain.

[B]

I really don't. You have any other employees?

[C]

No, sir. No.

[B]

No. You're Open from about 10am 10pm yeah, about. Were you there all that time?

[C]

No, I. I live on 75th on the other side of 2nd Avenue. And my wife comes about an hour when I go home, eat lunch and. And then she comes again at suppertime.

[B]

You. You say your son helps you out in the store once in a while, too?

[C]

Yeah, once in a while, Captain. He goes his ccny and he's in the store maybe, well, like one night or two nights a week. So Ella and I can eat supper together. Maybe taking a picture or something like that.

[B]

What's the boy's name?

[C]

John, too. We.

[B]

We.

[C]

We call him Bud.

[B]

Was Bud in the store last night?

[C]

He was there, yeah, for a little while. When I. When I came back from supper, he was there with Ella, My wife.

[B]

Do you think your son might have taken.

[C]

No. Oh, why should he?

[B]

Well, you thought he might have last night.

[C]

Who said that? I didn't say anything like that.

[B]

Mr. Froud, you said the reason you didn't report the gun missing last night was that you went home to talk to your wife and your son, to ask them if they saw it.

[C]

Yeah, I know.

[B]

Now, your wife said she didn't. And your son wasn't home when you went to sleep.

[C]

Oh, I didn't think he took it. I had to ask him, though, you know, before I went off half cocked.

[B]

Did you ask him?

[C]

I asked him laugh, if he'd seen the gun in the store, if he put it any place besides the drawer. He said no, he didn't touch it.

[B]

Now, what did your wife say?

[C]

She said the same thing. She didn't touch it. This Joe.

[B]

Joe Gouda. Guada. Guada. Where does he live? Harlem.

[C]

126th Street, I think.

[B]

But he'd be around the neighborhood of your city. A rather delicate test in this morning. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah, he's supposed to be.

[B]

Did you see him this morning?

[C]

No, not this morning.

[B]

Wasn't he supposed to come in, clean up the store?

[C]

Well, I didn't go to the store this morning yet. My. My wife went to the store. Excuse me.

[B]

21st Precinct. Captain Corman.

[C]

Lieutenant King is ringing down for you. Captain.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Yes, sir. Captain.

[B]

Yes, ma'? Am? Lieutenant Corman says you have the man whose gun was stabbed. That's right. You want to talk to him?

[C]

Yes, sir. I'll be right down.

[B]

Okay, man. Mr. Fraud, I've asked the commanding officer of the 21st Detective Squad to come downstairs for me. Well, you've got a gun can't be accounted for. We've got to presume it's been stolen.

[C]

But I. I don't know who would steal it.

[B]

That's partly a matter of who had access to the drawer, isn't it, Mr. Franz?

[C]

Well, I guess so.

[B]

Do you know anything about this Joel, besides the fact that he's worked for you in the delicatessen for around three years?

[C]

No, not much.

[B]

Is he married?

[C]

I think so, yeah.

[B]

You know whether he's ever been in trouble with the police?

[C]

Not since he's been working for me. At least, I don't think so. He's been pretty reliable.

[B]

How much you paying?

[C]

Well, he gets 2250 from me and 2250 from the delicatessen, plus tips on

[B]

the deliveries he makes. How old is your son, Mr. Frog? Bud.

[C]

He's 21. He's going to be 22, City College. Yeah. Premed. He's thinking. Bright boy. Real bright boy. He, he was in the army two years. That's why he's a little late in school. But he's going to make a fine doctor. Real fine doctor.

[B]

He's going to school on the GI Bill.

[C]

Yeah. He, he just got in under the wire. Just by a month. Six weeks went.

[B]

How are his grades at school?

[C]

He didn't steal it, Captain.

[B]

Not Bud.

[C]

I, I, I don't want you to accuse.

[B]

I'm not accusing anyone.

[C]

I'm telling you.

[B]

All right, we'll make sure.

[C]

You don't have to make sure. I'm telling you. I, I, I just don't want you thinking he did. Because he did, Mr. Fraud.

[B]

Apparently you're the one who thinks he might have seems to be on your mind.

[C]

No, he didn't. I'm telling you.

[B]

You were suspicious enough to want to talk to him before you came here.

[C]

I just wanted to ask him if, if he's seen it.

[B]

You having any trouble at home with Bud?

[C]

No, no. I mean, he's a boy, you know. He's a boy like any other boy. He's got ideas.

[B]

21 years old, he's been in the army. Not much of a boy anymore. What makes you think he took the gun?

[C]

I don't think.

[B]

Now, look, Mr. Froud, if he has got it, you better help us get it back from him before he gets in worse trouble.

[C]

What kind of trouble?

[B]

The kind of trouble a gun can bring. Do you think he took it?

[C]

Yeah, I think so, but I don't know. He says he didn't, but I think so.

[B]

Now, why do you think he took

[C]

it if he did? Who knows why? Who knows why he does anything? Why he wants to quit school, why he wants all kinds of money, why he wants to get married. Who knows why kid does anything?

[B]

Well, maybe we'll find out. Because theft of the Revolver was suspected, Lt. King assigned one of his detectives to go to City College and get the son out of class. In order to pursue my investigation, I instructed Sergeant Rosen on telephone switchboard duty to have a car come by the house for me. When it arrived, Mr. Trout and I got in, I told the operator patrolman was Micado to drive us to the liquor store on East 75th Street. Okay, Mr. Frog.

[C]

That was something like this.

[B]

Oh, wait here. Micardo.

[C]

Yes, sir.

[B]

We don't know that it was him, Mr. Frog. Who else?

[C]

Joe wouldn't do anything like that. I, I, I just know he wouldn't.

[B]

Somebody could have Walked in the store when kept young.

[C]

Please don't. Don't say anything to Ella yet. It'll be bad enough when she finds out. I mean, when we're positive. 12 hours a day I spend in there with four wolves. I didn't want anything like that for him. It's my ambition. He should have a profession. Come in. Ken.

[B]

Yeah. Hello, Ella.

[D]

John. Hello.

[C]

Any business?

[D]

A little.

[C]

Not much. This is Captain Cronin. This is my wife, Alice.

[B]

Mrs. Brown.

[D]

Glad to know you.

[B]

Well? Well, what? Nothing.

[C]

This is the drawer, Captain.

[B]

Right here. This is a very serious matter, Mrs. Froud. A dangerous weapon like that gets in the wrong hands and causes a lot of trouble.

[D]

I know. Nobody knows better than me. I realize it.

[B]

What time were you in the store yesterday? Why?

[C]

Ella, answer the questions.

[B]

Don't ask.

[D]

Well, I was here when John went to lunch and I was here when he went home to supper at lunch.

[B]

What time was that?

[D]

What time, John?

[C]

About 12 15, 12 30.

[D]

About 12 15, 12 30.

[B]

Anyone come into the store during that time?

[D]

One or two customers, maybe.

[B]

Were they ever in front of us alone where they could get at the drawer?

[D]

No. They stood there on that side of the count and I waited on them.

[B]

Was anyone else in the store?

[D]

Who?

[B]

Joe, for instance?

[D]

No. No, Joe didn't come in when I was here during lunch. I guess he was eating too.

[B]

What time did Mr. Frog get back?

[D]

What time, John?

[C]

A little after one.

[D]

A little after one.

[B]

And then what did you do, Mrs. Frog?

[D]

I talked to him for a minute and then I went. I went to go to the market and then home to success.

[B]

Same. And what time did you come back to the store again?

[D]

When it was time for John to go home for supper.

[C]

You see, Captain, she eats and she puts my supper on the stove. And then she walks over the store and I go home. That was what time last night? About 6:30.

[D]

About? Yeah.

[B]

Did anyone come into the store while you were here alone?

[D]

Well, my son, Bart, he came in.

[B]

Oh. Does he usually stop in when you're here alone?

[D]

Sometimes he was at his girlfriend's house. He went there from school in the afternoon.

[B]

What did he do while he was here?

[D]

We talked. I asked him did he eat, and he said no. And I told him to go home and have supper. It was on the stove.

[C]

He wouldn't come home because I was there.

[D]

If you'd leave him alone and stop nagging him, he'd be all right. He won't leave him alone.

[C]

I want him to get those crazy ideas out of his head. I want him to finish college. I don't want him to get a job and get married. What. What could he have?

[D]

He could have a wife.

[B]

Joe.

[C]

Come here. Joe. Oh, Lawrence, the Frau, Mr. Yeah. Joe, this is Captain Cronin, Police Department. The policia.

[B]

Policia.

[C]

Oh, glad to.

[B]

To know you, John. Mr. Frau keeps a gun in the storage. You know that, see? See, I know you know where he keeps it. See? I know. I know where.

[C]

See?

[B]

In the drawer.

[C]

Here in the drawer.

[B]

You already know why he keeps the gun. He for robbers. He's no rhyme with the proud for robbers.

[C]

Yeah. Joe.

[B]

Yeah. When did you handle that gun last, Joe? Me? Yeah. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I know, I know. Touch? Not me. I. I don't want nothing to do with no gun. I don't like it. You afraid of the gun? No, no, no, not afraid. I. I just don't like it. Somebody took it yesterday, Joe. They gone? Yeah. Who took it? Well, we hope maybe it was you, Joe. No, no, no. I know that you were cleaning the drawer and you took it out by mistakes.

[C]

No, I know.

[B]

Torch. No, no, no.

[C]

Ten day.

[B]

Not me.

[C]

No.

[B]

I don't like it. I don't go near these drawers and

[D]

you're Never, do I, Mrs. Not that I've ever seen.

[B]

No, Mr. Do I, eh?

[C]

No, Joe.

[B]

No, no. I don't like guns. I don't want you to draw, Luna. Never. You want me to take out the cartons this morning, Mr. Froud? You said yesterday.

[C]

Captain Crowland is talking to you, Joe.

[B]

Oh. Oh, excuse me. That's all right, Joe. I'll talk to you later if I have to. You go on, get back to work. Come on.

[C]

And back, Joe.

[B]

Oh, I'm going to do never. Never.

[C]

I'll be right back, Captain, as soon as I show him what to do.

[B]

All right, Mr. Stone.

[C]

Go ahead, Joe.

[B]

I know. Nice.

[D]

I don't think he did it. Not Joe.

[B]

Doesn't look that way.

[D]

Maybe somebody came in from the outside while John was in the back and just took it. That could happen, couldn't it?

[B]

Maybe. Mrs. Froud, how long has this trouble between your son and your husband been going on? Trouble?

[D]

Oh, it's not trouble. It's just a family disagreement.

[B]

How long has it been going on?

[D]

Oh, since Bud came back from the army, almost. He says he's too old to go to school. He wants to earn a living and get married. And John's got it in his head that Bud should be a doctor. But he don't want to be a doctor. He's Tired of living off a GI Bill and going to college and studying. When he says it doesn't mean a thing. Nothing to him.

[B]

Why doesn't he quit?

[D]

You'd never hear the end of it. Joan's crazy enough on the subject.

[B]

Do you think Bud might have taken the gun? Bud?

[D]

No. Why would he take it?

[B]

Well, he doesn't have much money. Maybe to sell it.

[D]

No, he wouldn't do that.

[C]

Somebody took it, not Bud.

[B]

Was Bud ever in trouble, Mrs.

[C]

Cloud?

[D]

What do you mean, trouble?

[B]

I mean, was he ever arrested?

[D]

No, he didn't take it. Not fud.

[B]

He was never in any kind of trouble.

[C]

No.

[B]

Well,

[C]

wasn't. Joe, you see what I mean?

[B]

Yep, I see.

[D]

John, would Bud take the gun? No.

[C]

Huh? Why? Why should he?

[D]

I don't know. I just asked.

[C]

Now, Alice.

[B]

All right.

[C]

Excuse me.

[B]

I shall.

[D]

But what do we do?

[C]

Is it l. Is Captain Cronin still there? Yeah, sure, he's here. Captain, for you. Okay.

[B]

Thanks, man. All right.

[C]

All right.

[B]

Captain Cronin.

[C]

Matt King, Captain.

[B]

Oh, yes, Mad.

[C]

I sent Whitey Howard up to CCNY to get that Bud crowd out of class.

[B]

Yeah? Just rang in. Said he got him out all right.

[C]

He admits taking the gun.

[B]

Oh, that's so.

[C]

Yes, sir. Why, he's on the way in with him.

[B]

Okay, Matt. Thanks. I'll be down a little while myself. Well, I've got to get back to Station House.

[C]

Oh, do you?

[B]

Yeah. And I think you better come with me, Mr. Frog.

[D]

I was just there, and I can't stay in the store all day. I came here without making the bed seated, and my sister's in the hospital.

[B]

I think you'd better come, Mr. Frog. All right, Ella.

[C]

I'll come back if you. Soon as I can.

[B]

All right.

[C]

Have Joe sweep out in front as

[B]

soon as he gets through, huh? Bye, Mrs. Brown. Goodbye,

[C]

Captain.

[B]

You know.

[C]

What is it? Did Bud take the gun?

[B]

Yeah. Why?

[C]

Why would he do such a thing?

[B]

I don't know.

[C]

I. I tried to do the best for him, make something out of my. I spent my whole life trying to do that so he could get someplace.

[B]

Well, maybe it's a good thing he didn't get too far. We got into the car and were driven to the station house by Patrolman Micado. Mr. Froud didn't say a word all the way. He just sat there looking straight ahead. Possession of a gun by an unlicensed person is a serious crime in the state of New York. I wondered as much as the father did as to why the young man took the gun. There Were two obvious reasons. One to sell it, the other to use in a robbery. A few minutes later, the car pulled out in front of the station house. Mr. Froud and I got out. I instructed Patrolman McAdo to pick up his partner and resume patrol. As the car pulled away, we crossed the sidewalk, mounted the three worn stone steps that led to the muster room. While Lieutenant Gman was desk officer and Sergeant Rosen still had telephone switchboard duty. You wave here, Mr. Frog. I have to go around. Sign a blotter, please.

[C]

Send Sergeant Rosen, Captain.

[B]

No, sergeant.

[C]

All right, Captain.

[B]

What's going, Lieutenant? Not a thing, Captain. Very quiet. Good. Oh, did you see Whitey Howard go upstairs with the young man? Yes, sir, just a few minutes ago. Okay. I'll be up there with the detectives.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Come on, Mr. Brown. All right, I'll go upstairs.

[C]

Is that where they happened? Yeah. Yeah, he's up there. I don't understand what's going to be.

[B]

No, right ahead from.

[C]

You just don't understand. He struggled.

[B]

He wor.

[C]

What do we do it for? For him to take a gun to hold up somebody.

[B]

Now, we don't know that that's the reason.

[C]

Ah, what other reason could there be? No, that's it. He never should have got that gun. Not if I had 40 stick upside.

[B]

If he'd wanted one, he'd have got one someplace. You can be sure of that. There. There he is.

[C]

A little awkward.

[B]

All right now, Bob, take your time.

[C]

Take your time.

[B]

Come in, Captain. Go ahead, Mr. Pun.

[C]

Hello, Bud. Pat, I'm ashamed of you. I'm so ashamed of you, I can hardly look at you. It's bad enough to steal, but to steal from your own father and a gun? What are you trying to do to me? Didn't you eat my heart out enough since you got back from the army? What are you trying to do to me now, kill me?

[B]

I think you've got it all wrong.

[C]

I got it terrible. I got it lousy. That's how I got. Listen. Don't touch me.

[B]

Leave me alone.

[C]

I didn't steal the gun.

[B]

You didn't? No.

[C]

What? What did you do? I took it out of the drawer and hid it in a case of wine on the floor by the window.

[B]

Why did you do that, Bud?

[C]

Because he's been carrying on about my wanting to quit school and wanting to get married. He's been carrying on like mad. You're not gonna quit. I quit already, Pa. Today. And I got married last week. Oh, you didn't. Yeah, I did. I was gonna tell you and Ma. Last night in the store. But I lost my nerve. I didn't know what you do or what you say. And that's why I hid the gun. I didn't want it around. You thought I, I. That I would do something with the gun. That I'd be that crazy to kill myself. I just didn't want to take the chance. Oh, but, but how could you think that? I, I know, I. I know I've been a little.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Last week at City Hall. I'm sorry, Pa. We didn't want to keep it a secret, but I wanted to get it done. I wanted it my way for a change. My way. You're right. You're right to do what you wanted to do. But I'm glad for you. I'm very glad for you, Captain. What can I say? I caused you so much trouble.

[B]

We've got plenty of real trouble around here, Mr. Frog.

[C]

This kind of trouble I like.

[B]

21st Precinct. Sergeant Wilson? No, sir.

[C]

The captain's not in the house right now. He's out on patrol. You've got who?

[B]

I'm so, Joe. Around the clock, through the week, every day, every year, a police precinct in the city of New York is a flesh and blood merry go round. Anyone can catch the brass ring, or the brass ring can catch anyone. 21st Precinct transcribed a factual account of the way the police work in the world's largest city is presented with the official cooperation of the Patrolman's Benevolent association, an organization of more than 20,000 members of the Police Department, City of New York. James Gregory in the role of Captain Cronin. Ken lynch as Lieutenant King. Featured in tonight's cast were Santa Sotega, Jack Orison, Bill Zuckert, Martin Newman, Ralph Camargo and Ethel Everett. Written and produced by Stanley Ness. Art Hannah Speaking.