21st Precinct 56-04-05 (131) The Six Hundred

Summary

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Podcast Summary: 21st Precinct 56-04-05 (131) The Six Hundred

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode Date: February 28, 2026
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode Title: The Six Hundred (original air date: April 5, 1956)

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Brief Overview

This episode of 21st Precinct, an authentic police procedural from radio’s Golden Age, centers on a daring safe burglary at a paint store within the 21st Precinct, New York City. Captain Vincent P. Cronin narrates the unfolding investigation as his team pursues clues left by the thieves—including bold phone calls from one of the burglars—and unravels a crime that becomes unexpectedly personal.

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Key Discussion Points and Storyline

1. Opening and Introduction of the Crime (00:04–02:43)

• Captain Cronin begins his shift with a series of emergencies: a fire, a car accident, and then a significant burglary at a paint store.
• Patrolman Farrell and other officers respond to the paint store, finding the whole safe—estimated at 600 pounds—missing.
• Introduction of Mr. Peter Restolis, shop owner, who laments not only lost cash ($600–$700) but also invaluable items: war bonds and accounts receivable.
  • Quote: “You’d think the safe would be safe. The whole thing.” – Captain Cronin (01:17)
• Details are gathered about the entry (a neatly jimmied front door).
• Restolis points out the invoice with the safe’s manufacturer details was stored—ironically—in the missing safe.

2. The Burglar Makes Contact (07:07–08:06)

• The investigation is interrupted by a phone call to the store— a woman asks for the “cop in charge;” a man then comes on the line.
• The caller, asserting he’s one of the safe thieves, proposes a deal: give them the combination, recover the safe contents—except the cash; if not, the safe and everything in it go into the river.
  • Quote: “All we want is to know, that’s all. … You give us the combination. … If we don’t get it, the safe winds up the bottom of the river and Restoles never sees anything else he’s got in there. Now, that’s fair, isn’t it?” – Burglar (07:30–07:50)
• Captain Cronin negotiates for time, and the caller abruptly hangs up.

3. Escalating the Investigation (08:06–16:35)

• Detectives from both the local squad and the citywide Safe, Loft and Truck Squad (specialists in safe-cracking crimes) converge on the scene.
• Suspicion arises: seasoned professionals wouldn't have so much trouble opening a common commercial safe (a "certified 600"), and likely wouldn't bother negotiating for the combination.
  • Quote: “Guy must be a psycho, trying to swing a deal like that.” – Detective Gordon Sawyer (10:24)
• Discussion about Restolis’s past employees, and especially his brother-in-law (with a criminal record), emerges.
• The squad prepares for the possibility of another phone call, planning to use a phony combination to buy time for tracing.

4. Second Call and Rapid Action (16:35–18:13)

• The burglar calls again, demanding the safe’s combination; Captain Cronin stalls, reciting a fake set of instructions.
  • Quote: “What are you trying to do? You’re trying to stall for time? I’m not going to stay on this line long enough for you to trace the call.” — Burglar (17:21)
• Detective Sawyer traces the call to a drugstore on Astoria Boulevard; squad cars are dispatched.

5. Break in the Case (18:13–22:22)

• The detectives travel to Astoria, where they find the safe in a garage—along with Mr. Restolis’s brother-in-law and a woman named Eleanor Mohal.
• Eleanor insists her role was innocent: “All he asked me to do was make a telephone call for him. If a girl can’t make a telephone call for a man, well, what’s this world coming to?” (21:19)
• The brother-in-law confesses, ruefully describing the failed effort to open the safe and the pointless hard labor involved.
  • Quote: “All that work. Not a dime out of it. That’s what gets me. That back-breaking work. Are you going to bring them in here, those boys? I’d like to see the looks on their faces. They take a fall, don’t get a dime out of it.” – Lee Kangley, brother-in-law (22:06)
• The personal betrayal between Restolis and his brother-in-law comes to the fore—a crime “to keep the money in the family.”

6. Resolution and Reflections (22:22–23:45)

• The safe is recovered, unopened. The culprits are booked; Captain Cronin and Lieut. King reflect on human nature and the revolving door of precinct life.
  • Quote: “What’s the answer? $25 a day.” – Mr. Restolis (22:55)
  • Captain Cronin: “Seems he prefers night work.”

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Timestamps for Notable Segments

• 00:04–02:43 — Introduction, crime discovery, scene description
• 07:07–08:06 — First phone call from the burglar, ransom demand
• 10:10–11:30 — Detective assessment: the thieves’ inexperience, possible inside knowledge
• 16:35–18:13 — Second phone call and live tracing
• 21:17–22:22 — Confrontation with Eleanor and the brother-in-law; confession
• 22:22–23:45 — Emotional fallout and closing reflection

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Most Memorable Quotes

“You’d think the safe would be safe. The whole thing.”
— Captain Cronin (01:17)

“Give us the combination. We’ll leave the stuff where it can be picked up. … If we don’t get it, the safe winds up the bottom of the river.”
— Burglar on the phone (07:43–07:50)

“Guy must be a psycho, trying to swing a deal like that.”
— Detective Sawyer (10:24)

“All he asked me to do was make a telephone call for him. If a girl can’t make a telephone call for a man, well, what’s this world coming to?”
— Eleanor Mohal (21:19)

“All that work. Not a dime out of it. That’s what gets me. That back-breaking work.”
— Lee Kangley (22:06)

“What’s the answer? $25 a day.”
— Mr. Restolis (22:55)

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Tone & Style

• Conversational yet procedural, reflecting the structure of the radio drama.
• Mix of world-weary humor and empathy; authentic New York patter.
• Frequent, dry jokes about the irony of “safe” safes and “family business.”
• Underlying theme: the human complexity beneath everyday crime.

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Conclusion

In this tightly-woven episode, the 21st Precinct transforms a seemingly routine safe burglary into a tale of inside betrayal, failed criminal ingenuity, and weary law enforcement persistence. The memorable give-and-take between police and suspect, the almost farcical criminal failures, and the personal repercussions for those involved echo the blend of hardship, humanity, and humor that made Golden Age radio police dramas timeless.

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Transcript

[A]

21st Precinct. It's just lines on the 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'm Captain in Command of the 21st Precinct. I was doing day duty 8am to 6pm Tours of duty vary like the weather. Some are quiet, others are stormy. This tour was a stormy one when I came on the job. At 7:30am a three alarm fire in an old brewery near the east river had just been brought under control. Two city firemen had been overcome and taken to Metropolitan Hospital. At 8:16am a bus and a taxicab collided on Second Avenue. The driver of the cab and his two passengers were injured. Shortly after 9:00 clock there was a call that a paint store on Lexington Avenue had been burglarized during the night. I was still at the scene of the accident when Patrolman Farrell, my operator, rang into TS from a call box and informed me of the burglary. We made the run to Lexington Avenue. The men from Sector 4 and Sergeant Tierney were already on the job. Farrell parked between their cars in front of the paint store. All right, let's go. Hello, Captain. What do we got, Ross? A safe job, John. They hauled it away. They just rolled it out the front door. Carried it away. All right. Don't touch the door, Captain. That' where they got in and out. Okay. Sergeant Jennings says the detectives might want to try it for fingerprints. All right, stay on the job here. Keep the sidewalk clear. Yes, sir. What time do you usually open a store, Mr. Estolis? Same time, 9 o'. Clock. 9 o' clock every day. Hello, Sergeant. Captain. Mr. Estolas, this is Captain Cronin. How do you go? Some mess to come to work, too. Some mess, huh? Mr. Restolis is the proprietor, Captain. Mr. Peter Estolis. He opened up this morning and found the place had been burglarized during the night. The whole safe picked up. The whole safe? You'd think the safe would be safe. The whole thing. You notify the detective Sergeant? Yes. I rang in as soon as I saw what it was Sally was catching he notified the safe and lost squad and he's on his way over here himself. Oh, where Was this safe, Mr. Sullis? Right back there, Ken. Right back there in plain view with a light on it. I always make it a practice to leave a light on. Right. Right here in between brushes and wallpapers. What kind of a safe was it, Mr. Stuller?

[B]

A black one.

[A]

I mean, do you know the name of the manufacturer and the style number? Oh, well, to tell you the truth, no. When did you buy it? Well, let's see. I had it when I removed to this location. I had it about a year. Then I'd been here nine years, so I got the safe about 10. It's important the detectives have a description of the safe. Don't you have the manufacturer's name, the model number written down, something? Well, yes. Tell you the truth, I think I do. I think I got the original invoice from when I bought it. Good. That's all we need. Where is the invoice? In the safe. That figures. How was the entry made, Sergeant? Street door was jimmied. Neat job, Captain. They got a bar in between the door and the frame and just snapped off the latch. Yeah, and when I walked up to the door, I could see something was screwy. I touched it and it opened. The lock was broken off. Listen, I got my insurance policies in a safe tool. How does that make me stand on the insurance? Well, you don't need your policies. Just get in touch with your brokers. Do you have any cash in the sink? Oh, yeah, sure. That's why I keep the safe principle. How much? Oh, 6, $700. Your receipts from yesterday. Well, most of it. 4 or 450 of the receipts yesterday. The rest is extra cash I just keep rotten. What? Well, to tell you the truth, Captain, it's a couple of hundred dollars I had. I didn't want my wife to know about, you know, mad money. She knows everything I'm doing and how much I got in the bank to the last nickel. You see, I'm the president and she's the secretary treasurer of this little corporation. We got Restaurant Saints and Corporation. And she takes the job serious. I figure I'm entitled to a couple of hundred dollars. You don't know what is it, six or seven hundred dollars Between. I don't know. I'd have to figure the register and so forth. What else did you have in there, Mr. Sons? Oh, a couple of dollars in stamps. Oh. Oh, for crying out loud. My war bond. My war bond was in there. You won't lose anything there. You have a record of the serial numbers, don't you? Yeah, also in the state. You sure had a lot of faith in that faith, Mr. Estola. Well, who'd have thought, you know. Listen, the government will make good on those war bonds. We'll say that's my hard earned money in those bonds. What happened? You better get in touch with the treasury department as soon as you can, Mr. Stoles. Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. Anything else in there, Mr. Estonis? Oh, my. Accounts receivable. Listen, how much chance is there of getting them back? I mean, the bonds and the accounts receivable. I don't care about the cash. You know, this could develop into an expensive proposition. The treasury might give me a hard time. And without the accounts receivable, well, to tell you the truth, I'm a dead duck. Account's payable. Who cares? The people I owe, if I don't pay them, will let me know. But the people that owe me aren't going to come around here and volunteer money. No, sir. You think I can get it back? The contents, besides the cash, I mean. You probably will, Ms. Restoreless. All I want is the cash ledgers and war bonds. Won't do them any good. That's good news. If only it comes through. What'd they do? Sergeant, roll it along here. Yes, sir. You can see the track right down here and out the door. Must have had a pickup truck or a car waiting. A car? Oh, they couldn't get that safe into a car. You know how big it is? Well, it comes up to here. Up to here? There must have been nine guys to move it. Look, I haven't had it out of that corner for two years. It was so heavy. Look. Look at the dust back there. You all alone in the store, Mrs. Stos? Yeah, that's right. All alone. Except on Saturdays. My wife comes down to give me a hand and work on a book. She's got a job down on wall street. On Saturday, she comes to help me out. You always been alone in the stone? Well, yeah, for the last three or four years. I used to have help, but it got more than the traffic could bear. I couldn't keep them. And I always had their problems, plus my own. I figured it didn't pay 12 guys there must have been to roll that safe out of here. Believe me, it was this big. Was this big and heavy. Now, who could that be on the phone? It's a fine time. You better ask her, Mr. Staller. It's a fine time for Business as usual. Some deal, huh, Captain? Yeah, some deal. And a roll of safe out cross the sidewalk, up onto a truck. Where was the patrolman on post based? May, Captain Patrol Saint. What time you think they broke in, Sergeant? Who? He closes the store at 6 o'. Clock. He didn't open up until 9 this morning. Could have been any time in between. Yah. Yah. Sergeant, give me the names of the two men who were on post here for the night tour and for the lake tour. Yes, sir. I want to know why they didn't see this burglary in progress or at least discover that the door was Ginny. Hey, listen, Captain, that telephone's for you. For me? Yeah, I answered it and somebody says, who's the cop in charge there? It was a dame. Dame? I said, there's a captain here. She said, let me talk to the captain. All right, where's this? It's back there on the counter, right next to the cash. Right. Now, you don't need all those money, Sergeant. Get some of them back out at your own. Yes, sir. Captain Cronin, are you in charge of the cops there? Who is it?

[C]

That's not important. Out, Captain.

[A]

Well, it's important if you want to talk to me.

[C]

Well, look, if you really want to know who it is, I'm the guy who's got the sight from there.

[A]

Oh, that's so.

[C]

Yeah, that's so. I want to make you a little proposition.

[A]

Well, I don't know whether I want to talk about a proposition with you.

[C]

Well, whatever we talk about, let's make it fast. I don't want to give you a chance to find out where I'm calling from.

[A]

All right, I'll make it fast. What do you want?

[C]

I want the combination.

[A]

You don't want much, do you?

[C]

Look, we've been trying to get into that thing all night. We've been trying to rip it, we've been using a torch on it. All we want is to know, that's all.

[A]

Well, that's very nice of you.

[C]

The deal is you give us the combination. I know he's got a lot of other stuff in there he wants to besides the money, but that's all. I want the money.

[A]

What's your proposition?

[C]

Give us the combination. We'll leave the stuff where it can be picked up without getting hurt. We'll leave the whole safe.

[A]

And if you don't get it?

[C]

If we don't get it, the safe winds up the bottom of the river and Restoles never sees anything else he's got in There. Now, that's fair, isn't it? How far can you get?

[A]

All right, hold the phone a minute. Now, talk it over with Mr. Restaurant.

[C]

No, no, I don't hold any phone. I'll call you back, Captain. Who?

[A]

Captain Cronin, 20. Vice President.

[C]

All right, I'll call you back there.

[A]

Hello? Hello? What's the trouble, Captain? Well, that was a burglar. A burglar? Did you say it was a burglar on the pole? That's who he said it was. What does he want? A combination to the safe. The what? Who does he think he is? He can't get it open. He said if he gets the combination, you'll recover everything else in the safe except the money. All he wants is the money. If he doesn't get it, he says the whole thing goes to the bottom of the river. You mean I could get my account receivable and my war bond fence? Well, who cares about the money? I'm covered by insurance for that. I'll go along with him. I'm inclined to do that. Well, I don't know whether I will, Mr. Restorer. Now, look, whose stuff is it? I've got a lot to lose. We'll talk it over with the detectives. They'll be here soon. See what they want to do about it. Well, I know what I want to do about it. I've been there a long time in this shot, Captain. I never heard of anything like this before. You learn something new every day, Sergeant. Every day in the year. Within a few minutes, detectives of both the 21st squad and the Safe, Loft and Truck Squad, the central office specialists who handle safe burglaries on a citywide basis, arrived at the scene. Sergeant Teeny gave them such information that he had collected, and I told them of the phone call from the man who purported to be one of the burglars. The detectives took over the investigation, and Sergeant Tierney instructed his men to resume patrol. I returned to the station house where I signed the blotter, went into my office to read and sign reports and communications which had accumulated since I was last on duty. At 20 minutes after 10, I had almost finished the paperwork when I looked up and saw Lieutenant Matt King, commander of the 21st Detective Squad, and another man standing in the doorway. Yes, Matt? You got a minute, Captain? Yeah, sure, a minute. How are you? Captain Parmard, this is Detective Gordon Sawyer of the Safe and Lost Squad. Glad Noyer. Sawyer. Yes, sir. Sit down, Maxim. Yeah. Well, that was an odd one this morning, wasn't it? Sure was. How do you Figure it, Sawyer. You fellas ever hear of anything like that before? No, sir. It's new to us. Guy must be a psycho trying to swing a deal like that. Well, he didn't sound much like a psycho on the phone, Matt. How are you fellows gonna figure Sawyer? Well, there are a couple of things, Captain. One, Mr. Ristolas said it was a woman on the phone when he answered. And you picked it up, and it was a man. That's right. Two, from the description Ristolas gave us of the box, that sounded like a certified 600. Now, a safe man who really knows his business wouldn't find much trouble getting into a box like that. He'd try ripping it, and if that didn't work, he'd use a cutting torch, get inside of it that way. Especially since they carried it off and can work on it at their leisure. They aren't red hot, iron man, that's for sure. Whoever they are, I don't think they've been long in the trade. How many of them you think there were? Well, that box weighs 600 pounds. There must have been at least three of them, maybe four. What about the girl on the phone? I don't know, Captain. I think I've got an idea about that. Yes, sir. If this burglar is going to put the proposition to someone who'd be the logical person, not the policeman on the job. A logical one would have been Restoles. I don't think he wanted to talk to Ristolas. That's why he had the girl put in the call. You mean you think Rastolis might have recognized his voice? Yes, sir, that's a good possibility. But why the girl? There must have been at least two other men in the deal. Why the girl? I don't know. Maybe his friends didn't think it was a good idea. Maybe they gave up on the deal when they couldn't get the box open. Any number reason. Sawyer, let's check out some of the people Restoras knows. Okay, Lieutenant. He said he used to have help in the store. Not anymore. How about his former employees? Yes, sir. There might be something there. You gonna be around here all day, Captain? Wires. Going out on patrol again this afternoon? About all. Why? Well, we figured this bum might call back here to see if the deal will go through. If he does, we've got the switchboard here. One of us will be right out there. We'll keep one line open to the telephone company to get the location of the phone he's calling from. Soon as we can get the Location? We'll have a car go right over there. He won't stay on the phone long. He wouldn't this morning. He knows we're looking for his call. He's got to stay on long enough for you to give him the combination. And you want to go along with him part way. We'll give him a phony combination that might give us a chance to get to him. If you take long enough to tell it to him. Captain, I'll take long. So we'll be out at the board and start to work on every call that comes through to you. Captain, if that's all right. Yeah, yeah. If you'll just take a few seconds longer to get to the phone than you normally do, we might have a chance if he calls again. Well, he's got the safe and we've got the combination. If he had the nerve to carry that safe out across the sidewalk, he's certainly got nerve enough to make another telephone call. You are listening to 21st Precinct, a factual account of the way police work in the world's largest city. This year, there's something brand new in campaign news coverage, an innovation by CBS News which is always on the lookout for new ways to illuminate and enlarge its news reporting. It's the CBS News campaign cavalcade, a 12 man unit of top CBS newsmen which will be touring America in two specially designed and equipped station wagons, heading always for on the spot coverage wherever political news is breaking. Perhaps the Cavalcade has already visited your locality. Perhaps it's on its way right now to cover the political situation there. Not only from the candidate's point of view, but yours. Be on the lookout for it for the CBS News Campaign Cavalcade is on its way. And now back to Captain Cronin and the 21st Precinct. I remained at the station house for the balance of the morning. Detective Sawyer of the Safe and Lost Squad posted himself next to the telephone switchboard, ready to use another line to trace any subsequent call from the safe burglar. He got head starts on two callers who had asked for me. But both of them turned out to be ordinary police business. At 11 o', clock, Patrolman White, who had worked the 12 to 8 tour on the post where the safe burglary occurred, came into the precinct house and stopped to talk to the desk officer. About the same time, I finished my paperwork and started out of the office into the muster room. I saw Patrolman White and asked him to come into my office. What are you doing back in the house? White, weren't you off at 8 o' clock this morning? Yes, sir, but I had to go to court on an old case and I left something here I wanted to pick up. Come on in, son. You were assigned to post number six, midnight eight, am I right? Yes, sir, that's right. You're familiar with the paint store on Lexington avenue run by Mr. Peter Restolis? Yeah, that's on post number six. Captain, you have occasion to notice anything unusual at the paint store during your tour duty? No, sir. Did you try the front door at all during your tour? Well, I did on my first time around. You saw nothing unusual during the ballot for your sir? No, sir. Did you notice any truck parked on your post near the store? No, sir. White. Sometime during the night, burglars jimmied the front door, got in the store, rolled out a 600 pound safe. They did. I'm telling you they did. Rolled it out the front door, across the sidewalk into a truck. Where were you? Well, I didn't see them. I know you didn't see them. I'm trying to find out why. Yes, sir. After your first time around, didn't you try the door again during the course of the tour? No, sir. Why not? Can you explain why you didn't? Yes, sir. Well, go ahead, explain. It's what I'm waiting for. Well, a little after one o' clock there was some trouble over in a bar on Third Avenue. What kind of trouble? Two of the patrons got in a fight, Captain. One of them hit the other over the head with a beer bottle. The man was unconscious and I had to go to the hospital with him. More times. If you get back on Post at 223, Captain, did you start around again? Yes, sir. You try any front doors? Well, I started to, but it was along about that time that the alarm hit for this fire in the old brewery on the river. Yeah? Well, Sergeant Collins drove by and instructed me to leave my post and go over to York Avenue. Well, why did you do that? Well, the firemen had lines strung across York Avenue. There were about 30 pieces of apparatus there. I was instructed to reroute traffic off York Avenue and on the first and second. How long did you stay there? Until I was relieved. What time was that? 20 minutes after 8 o' clock this morning. I came into the station house, changed into my civilian clothes, then I went down to court. That's where I was until I got back here. Okay, wank man, go on home. Yes, sir. Thank you, Captain. Bye, Captain. All right, leave the drawer open. 25 spray thank Captain Cronin.

[C]

This is. Sorry, Captain, There's a call coming through for you. I think it's our boy.

[A]

All right, if you'll hang up and

[C]

let it ring three or four times.

[A]

Okay, 20. 23. Thank Captain Cronin.

[C]

You know who this is, Captain?

[A]

I think so.

[C]

Well, what about the deal? You ready to go through with it?

[A]

I think so.

[C]

What's the combination?

[A]

Now, now, wait a minute. Look, first, I want your assurance that you're not going to fill that safe in the river. A man wants his property back, you get it back. Well, I just want to make sure that Connecticut.

[C]

What are you trying to do? You're trying to stall for time? I'm not going to stop. Stay on this line long enough for you to trace the call. Believe me, I'm not. Now, what's the combination?

[A]

All right, just a second. I'll. Let me find it, huh?

[C]

Take more than a second. I'm telling you. Don't take more than a second.

[A]

All right, all right. I'm getting it.

[C]

What is it?

[A]

Just a second, I'm telling you. All right, hold it. Yeah, here it is. Let's see. Two full turns to the right.

[C]

Two full turns to the right. Like that.

[A]

Down and stop at 71. Stop at 71. Now, back left past 71. Stop at 6.

[C]

Back left past 71. Stop at 6. What? 6. 6. Yeah. Then what?

[A]

Now, look, look, you're going to keep your promise, aren't you?

[C]

I'll keep my promise if you'll keep yours. What's the rest of the combination? I haven't got all day here. I know what you're trying to do.

[A]

All right. And right. Right to 98.

[C]

Is that it?

[A]

Yeah. 90. Okay.

[C]

Goodbye.

[A]

I think we got a chance, Captain. Well, I couldn't keep him on the phone any longer. Sawyer, he knew what we were up to. We. We made it. Good. The girl was with him again. Apparently, she was standing right alongside him and taking down the combination as he repeated it. It was from a pay station? No, not figures. A drugstore on Astoria Boulevard. A car from 114th is on the way. Good. Maybe they'll make it. I'll call the squad out there and ask him to take a look, too. Okay, I'll do it from the board. Oh, excuse me, Lieutenant. It's all right. Go ahead. We got the call, Lieutenant. You talked to him, Captain? Yeah, Matt, I gave him a combination. They traced it to a pay station in a drug store on a SOYU bullet. Well, he's probably gone by now. Yeah, well, the Car's on the way. Sawyer's calling the 114th squad and having them take a look too. Astoria, huh? That's right. You know something, Captain? I had Vitaly and Novak over there Talking to that Mr. Restolis for the better part of the morning. Yes, We've been going on the possibility that maybe your suggestion is correct. The man didn't want to talk to Restolis on the phone because he might recognize the voice. They asked him all about his former employees and former relatives. Anybody that he knew who was familiar with the store or worked there. Did they get anywhere? No, don't place much, but one thing came out. The Stola's wife has a brother who's been in a little trouble. Oh. So, yeah, I did one bit for grand larceny. He's been out for two and a half to three years. Hasn't got jammed up since. Festola said his brother in law used to clerk in the store on Saturdays. Once in a while. No, just to help Matt a little bit in the rush. Said he wasn't much account as a clerk. He didn't know varnish from enamel. Said he hasn't seen his brother in law in about seven or eight months. Doesn't think his wife has either. Well, it's nothing in itself. Rastolis would know his brother in law's voice over the telephone. Yes, his brother in law might think that Rastolis is a pretty good mark. Well, it's a possibility, Matt, but I still don't have much. Do you know where he lives? The brother in law? Nestorius. Now that story. Well, I guess you want to talk to him. Yes, sir, I guess we do. In another minute or so Detective Sawyer came into my office and told me that he had spoken to the acting lieutenant in Command of the 114th Squad. Two detectives from there were en route to the drug store on Astoria Boulevard to see if they could locate the caller. It was determined that Detective Sawyer a accompanied by Detective vitale of the 21st squad would go to Astoria and talk to the brother in law of the victim. The fact that the brother in law lived in Astoria and had a criminal record was considered more than a coincidence. After they left my office, I turned my attention to other business of the precinct. At 1pm I went out on patrol and returned in time to turn out the platoon for the night tour. At 4, the precinct was calmer than when I came on the job in the morning the storm had a. After the men marched out the door, a call came from upstairs that Lt. King would like to see me in the Detective Squad office. I walked through the back door where several of the men who had just come off duty were standing around talking, climbed the rickety stairs to the second floor and walked into the 21st Squad. Detective Sawyer was sitting on the edge of a desk talking to a small blonde woman. I walked over to him.

[B]

Well, I was just doing him a favor. That's all I was doing.

[A]

Sawyer. Oh, hello, Captain. How are you?

[B]

After all, all he asked me to do was make a telephone call for him. If a girl can't make a telephone call for a man, well, what's his world coming to?

[A]

Captain, this is Eleanor Mohal. How do you do?

[B]

I'm sure I didn't have anything to do with breaking into that store. I wasn't anywhere near the place. I didn't know what it was all about. He asked me to do him a favor, that's all. And I did. I didn't know what it was all about.

[A]

He asked you to write the combination down too, when he got it from the captain here. You know what that was all about, didn't you?

[B]

Well, not exactly. He's not the kind that tells you everything.

[A]

You got it about wrapped up? S? Yes, pretty much. Vitelli and I went to this house in Astoria. We found a brother in law out there. And her.

[B]

I told you I was just visiting. That's all I was doing. I was just visiting.

[A]

We took a look in the garage and what do you think was there? The same? Yes, sir, the same.

[B]

I didn't know it was in there. Can I look in garages? Why should I look in a garage? I was just visiting him and he asked me to do him a favor. You can't tell somebody for doing a favor.

[A]

Always the lieutenant in his office. Yes, sir.

[B]

I didn't know what it was all about. That's honest to goodness truth. He asked me to do him a favor, that's all.

[A]

Job calling. I thought you'd like to meet this man, Captain. You talked to him over the phone. Lee Kangley. What are we waiting for? You got the safe. You got me. Book me and get it over with. William, I'm tired. Because you were up all last night? Because I was up all last night? Yes. That was a very smart thing you did, breaking into your brother in law's store, wasn't it? Oh, that was smart enough. The stupid thing was leaving a safe in my garage. I should have found someplace else. You find out who was with him on the deer last night? Yes, sir, he told us. Still, I Told you. I told you everything. Why should I keep anything back? They walked out of me. You think I want to be in and them out? Not me, brother. I weak and easy. When I go down for the third time, I take everybody with me. Why did you pick on your own brother in law? I wanted to keep the money in the family. I was very thoughtful, wasn't it, Captain? Very. We're sending a truck out after the safe, Captain. I'm kind of anxious to see it. Sawyer told me they clawed at it and hacked at it and burned it with a torch. Tried to knock the knob off. They couldn't make a dent in it. It must be a pre war safe if they build them like that today. I'll say they don't. Who's got a chance of one of those things? And it's work, you know. That's work to get it out of the store, onto the truck and out to the garage. Then to have to go to work on it. You know, we worked on that thing from 2:30 this morning till almost 8. We couldn't make a dent in it. Is that when you got the bright idea to call me? Yeah, that's right. I came over to New York. Walked down the other side of Lexington Avenue to see what kind of a rumble it was from the deal. When I saw all the cops parked out in front, I went in a candy store and called. Who was with him? Just Eleanor. That's right. Just Eleanor. I had the idea out in the garage. But the other boys thought I was crazy. They wouldn't have any part of it. I said to them, look, I'm not two feet away from where all that money is. Not two feet. And I can't get my hands on it. If you don't want any part in it, get out. I said to myself, I'll do it myself. They got out all that work. Not a dime out of it. That's what gets me back, breaking work. Are you going to bring them in here, those boys? I'd like to see the looks in their faces. They take a fall, don't get a dime out of it. I'm laughing. It's a big joke. All right. Come in. Mr. Sellers? Yeah. I'm Lieutenant King. How are you? I'm pleased to know you. Lee, I. I don't know what to say. Say hello. I'm ashamed of you, Lee. I'm really ashamed of you. My wife's own brother, to do such a thing to. What do you want from me, Pete? I did it. What am I gonna do? Say I'm sorry. You would really throw the safe in the river? Your own brother in law's accounts receivable in bonds at the bottom of the river. I can understand how you would do it to me. But your own flesh and blood is my wife. Don't knock yourself out, Pete, will you? Why did you do it, Lee? Why didn't you come to me if you needed money? I needed money. But who needed a song and dance along with it? Captain, do you understand it? I don't. A grown man. Look at him. In his trade, he can go out and make $25 a day. $25 a day and he's got to go get himself in trouble like this again. What's the answer? $25 a day. Yes, Mr. Rosola seems to be that he prefers night work. 21st person. Sergeant Kenning. Who's dead? Who? How? Where is this? Where? 80. 80 what? Yeah. Yeah. Who is this? And so it goes 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 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 Joe DeSantis, John Sylvester, Ms. Leslie Woods, Bill Quinn, Larry Haynes and Eric Dressler. 21st Precinct is written, produced and directed by Stanley Niss. Roger Foster speaking.