Host Adam Graham (29:46)
Welcome back. This episode is textbook Dragnet, but it is very well realized. We essentially hear them and their investigative process as they follow lead after lead, beginning with an unidentified woman strangled in a hotel room to really getting details about her and her life and at last finding her killer. It was a laborious process. Even when they found the car and the license plate. No, that didn't get them there. Dragnet often bills itself as taking you step by step with the police on an actual case, from crime to punishment. But usually there's kind of a middle of the investigation that really gets emphasized and we, we get enough to understand what's gone on before, and then we're kind of put, you know, several steps into the investigation. But here, you know, it is just step by step. Okay, this didn't work well. We learned this and now we do this. It's just a fascinating thing. It should not work as well as it does, but again, it's just Web's ability to make these details and each element realistic and interesting that is such a hallmark of Dragnet. And I also did like the little bit of comedy relief they worked in with Mr. Morgan, which I think just does help the pacing so well. You've got just like this little comedic break in the middle, and then on we go. Got two of them, actually. And I'm glad that at least he got good news with his friend Maude. Well, now we turn to listener comments and feedback and we start over on Patreon. We've got quite a few comments regarding the big hit and run killer. Jeff writes the suspect, Miller, letting some guy named Paul he seems to barely know go off with his bakery truck to supposedly move a television seems ridiculous on the face of it. Also, if Miller left the bakery for a few minutes to say goodbye to some friends at a nearby hotel, why weren't those friends contacted to back up that part of his alibi? Bear questions. I would say that you're right, that it was ridiculous on the face of it, and that's why he needed to prove that he done it. Because if the police were able to find corroborating evidence. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client just loaned this truck. No, we don't know his full name. No, we don't have any proof he actually borrowed it. As to the friends in the hotel, like I said, that's another fair question. Now, a lot of people can use the friend thing kind of loosely. It could refer to somebody he had met a long time ago, ran into again, and they said, hey, before I leave town, why don't you come by the hotel and say goodbye? But he didn't have their information or could use it to refer to people who were in town temporarily he had met and befriended. You know, I mean, a guy who loans his bakery truck to somebody is apt to do these sort of things. So I can see him having friends that he doesn't have their address for, that he met them at some point. Now, you would think that they could check with the hotel, but the desk clerk may not have even seen him going up. So I tend to assume that they looked into it, but just could not find any corroboration for that detail of his alibi. And then, Kevin comments. Leave it to Sergeant Friday to continually stomp on suspects. Constitutional rights. No warrants or lawyers ever present. The depth of this episode was shockingly simple. All the information provided after one phone call, the ticket lady with eight minutes till she could take a break and talk right inside to start questioning. Doctor, I know you're doing brain surgery right now, but we'd like to ask some questions. It's really important. Apparently, no writer ever asked, does this sound real? Well, Kevin, believe me, on Dragnet, writers more than anywhere else ask, does this sound real? I think that there is a subtle distinction between performing brain surgery and working as a movie theater ticket taker. It's slightly less complex. And in this case, there weren't really people who were coming by during this time, which is believable because there are times where it's really kind of slow. Plus, let's just be honest here, that you're sitting in your ticket window and you see this car come right in front of your eyes and run down this elderly woman and her grandson. That's something that is very upsetting, maybe even traumatic depending on how you define that. And she probably just wanted to talk about it. I think the most unrealistic thing to say is yeah, let me go ahead and just sit here and twiddle my thumbs waiting for somebody to want to buy a ticket. You witness something like that and you want to talk about it. And you know, if you are minded, you want to see the person, person who did that, caught, injustice done. And I think that was her mode and I didn't feel that was unrealistic at all. Dr. Whodunit observes. Did not see that coming over on Instagram. Brains Benton writes what a twisty story. Daniel Miller, the truck deli guy, may not have been the hit and run driver, but boy is he guilty of a lot of bad judgment and decision, lends the company truck to someone he doesn't know the name of and leaves his part time job to say goodbye to some other friends and changes his story constantly. I guess he was lucky the real guilty party fessed up. I don't know if I'd say the guy fessed up as much was called out. But yeah, I think that the incredible thing about Dragnet is that you are dealing with true life stories. There is every reason to disbelieve him, but it is one of the greatest twists in the whole history of this program that as absurd as this man's story was, he was telling the truth and of course a lot of bad judgment. And you can speculate on that as well because you add up his hours. The guy is working around 70 hours a week and and that can leave you burnt out and lead to you making less than great decisions. Or you can also be needing to do that because you've made some less than great decisions. Either way, definitely guilty of bad judgment, but thankfully for him, that's not a crime. Alright, well now it's time to thank our Patreon Supporter of the Day and I want to thank Diane, a Patreon supporter Since July of 2023, currently supporting the podcast at the Detective Sergeant level of $7.14 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support Diane and that will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your podcast software and be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you download it from. We will be back next Thursday with another episode of Dragnet, but join us back here tomorrow. For yours truly, Johnny Dollar Ware Johnny.
